"We have video footage" - Kamaru Usman questions Justin Gaethje for trying to knock him out in sparring session
Kamaru Usman recently questioned Justin Gaethje for his attempts to knock him out during their sparring sessions, which led to a hilarious interaction between them.
The reigning 'BMF' title holder and former welterweight champion have been close friends and training partners for years and have achieved plenty of success in their respective weight divisions. By training with one another, they have been able to improve in all areas and become more complete fighters.
During his appearance on a recent episode of Henry Cejudo and Usman's Pound 4 Pound podcast, Gaethje described how he is as a training partner and his experience sparring with the 'The Nigerian Nightmare'. The former UFC welterweight champion took the opportunity to respond and mentioned that 'The Highlight' tried to knock him out on a few occasions. He said:
"He's [Gaethje] the type that will hit me very very hard but then say, 'Oh no, you tried to smoke me, man. You tried to hit me'. I'm like, 'Bro, no. What are you talking about?'...Bro, you tried to knock me out, what are you talking about? We have video footage of these interactions."
There is obviously no ill will between Usman and Gaethje as they were laughing at the footage, but it highlighted the importance for fighters to have sparring partners that they can trust in order to maximize their development.
Kamaru Usman recounts awkward interaction with Charles Oliveira
Kamaru Usman recently recounted an awkward encounter he had with Charles Oliveira when they were both reigning UFC champions.
During an episode of Pound 4 Pound podcast, the former welterweight champion's co-host Henry Cejudo brought up that he would be interested in seeing him fight the former lightweight champion. Usman then addressed the encounter they had and mentioned that it was due to 'Do Bronx' fighting Justin Gaethje rather than the fighters having animosity. He said:
"That was when he fought Justin Gaethje. And a little bit of that energy was because he was fighting my brother. I ain't wanna dap him up, but yeah...I ain't want to. I did not want to. He was fighting my brother Justin so I did not want to cause my brother goes to war, we all go to war."