Watch: A jovial Kamaru Usman interacts with kids upon Nigeria return
A jovial Kamaru Usman was seen interacting with a group of kids upon his recent return to Nigeria.
ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto took to Twitter to post a video showing Usman’s interaction with the excited young fans.
Fans can check out the video in the tweet embedded below:
Chants of “Kamaru!” rang through the streets, as many fans – mostly kids – had gathered around the reigning UFC welterweight champion.
An individual in the video, an adult male, was heard rallying the young fans to cheer for Kamaru Usman. The individual asked “What’s his name?” and the children chanted “Kamaru!” in response. They repeated this multiple times, as Usman was seen reveling in the celebration.
Kamaru Usman has often been vocal about his deep connection with Nigeria. The MMA stalwart was born in Auchi, Nigeria, on May 11, 1987. He lived in the country until the age of 8, after which he moved to the United States of America.
Kamaru Usman's father served as a major in the Nigerian Army and later worked as a pharmacist in the US. He raised his son as an athlete right from his younger years.
Usman had a respectable NCAA Division II wrestling career and acquired a great overall grappling base due to his wrestling experience. This, in turn, is believed to have laid the foundation for his successful transition to the sport of MMA.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ made his professional MMA debut in 2012 and his UFC debut in 2015. He won the UFC welterweight title in March 2019 and has successfully defended it four times thus far.
Kamaru Usman is likely to face archrival Colby Covington in his next fight
Kamaru Usman is coming off a spectacular knockout win over Jorge Masvidal. Usman had bested Masvidal via unanimous decision at UFC 251 (July 2020). Their rematch ended with Usman beating Masvidal via second-round KO at UFC 261 (April 2021).
UFC president Dana White has consistently maintained that Kamaru Usman’s next fight will be a rematch against Colby Covington. The first fight between Usman and Covington saw the former defeat the latter via fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 (December 2019).
The rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington is regarded as one of the most highly anticipated fights of the 2021 calendar year.