"If the UFC is throwing $100 million at us" - Kamaru Usman discusses possibly competing against Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman [Photo via @ufceurope on Twitter]

Kamaru Usman is open to the idea of fighting his good friend Israel Adesanya on one condition. The UFC would apparently need to pay the pair of pals a king's ransom to convince them to fight each other.

ESPN's Max Kellerman asked Usman what it would take to get him to agree to fight the reigning middleweight champion. Usman named his price, saying:

"Adesanya is my guy. That's something that me and him have to discuss. There's a difference between fighting and competing. If me and him decide we wanna compete, and the UFC is throwing a $100 million dollars at us, then we'll make it happen."

Watch Kamaru Usman talk about a potential showdown with Israel Adesanya:

'The Nigerian Nightmare' previously said fighting his "brother" Adesanya is not something he's interested in doing. Usman's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently revealed in an interview with ESPN that he has been pushing his star client to move up to middleweight, but to no avail. He said:

"It doesn't matter. I don't want him to fight his friend, that's what he believes in. But, you know, if it's two good friends – Mike Tyson told me this – if we're friends, let's make some money, man, and after that, we can shake hands. But I respect their friendship. I'm never gonna get in between that, but at the end of the day, if [Robert] Whittaker wins, Kamaru can go up and fight Whittaker, too. He'll whoop Whittaker."

Kamaru Usman's rival says he wants to fight Israel Adesanya

Kamaru Usman will take on his archnemesis Colby Covington this weekend in a highly anticipated championship rematch at UFC 268. Looking ahead, the challenger claimed that he wanted to take Israel Adesanya's belt after dethroning Usman.

In a video collaboration with Bang Energy Drink, one of Covington's major sponsors, 'Chaos' said, "we're going to go up to middleweight, to 185 and we're going to beat Israel Adesanya."

Here. We. Go! 👀

🏆 @USMAN84kg 🆚 @ColbyCovMMA 2

The rematch is set to headline the UFC’s numbered card in November. Official date and venue TBC.

(Per Dana White via @bokamotoESPN) https://t.co/5GTXMuSQCq

However, beating Kamaru Usman is easier said than done. Covington sustained a TKO loss against Usman in their first go-round, though he gave the champ a run for his money.