Francis Ngannou praises Mohammed Usman following his knockout victory to win TUF 30: “A new contender was born in the heavyweight division”

UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou is heaping praise on the latest Ultimate Fighter winner Mohammed Usman.

On the main card of UFC Vegas 59, Usman went one-on-one with Zac Pauga to determine the TUF 30 heavyweight winner. Usman ended up knocking Pauga out cold in the second round to lay claim to the label of TUF champion.

After the fight, Ngannou sent a congratulatory message to Usman and joked that he doesn’t want any smoke from the new TUF heavyweight king.

https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1556135713959059456?s=21&t=itq-p8_-iM0odCU05Mx5UQ

“A new contender was born in the heavyweight division and personally I want no business with this man. Congrats brother @Umohammed97.”

Mohammed is the younger brother of reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman. Mohammed has improved his pro MMA record to 8-2 with the KO win to punch his ticket to a UFC contract.

During the UFC Vegas 59 post-fight press conference, Mohammed dismissed the notion that he received this TUF opportunity because he’s Kamaru’s brother (h/t MMAJunkie).

“I had to put the work in to get here,” Usman said. “Fighting is fighting. It’s not, ‘Oh, Kamaru’s your brother. Now let’s just push you up here. You’re in the “Ultimate Fighter” finale. , you don’t have to fight these two hard monsters that are coming in at 265 pounds to be here. We’ll just put you here because your brother is Kamaru Usman.’

“That’s false. Everything about fighting is yourself. That’s why I love it so much, because as much as people speak about my brother, that’s why I love it because I’m still the one that has to go out there and compete and have to fight and have to win for you guys to even be up here and talk crap to me and tell me about my brother. If I don’t win, I’m not even getting up here and looking at you guys.”