Kamaru Usman News

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2018

In the last 36 hours or so, the majority of the UFC’s top, available welterweights have all been linked to exciting new matchups. Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington are expected to scrap for the interim title at UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro. Darren Till and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson are expected to battle in the main event of the UFC’s upcoming trip to Liverpool. Santiago Ponzinibbio is expected to take on Neil Magny in Chile this May 19…

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2018

Yesterday evening, our own insider extraordinaire Chris Taylor reported that the UFC’s upcoming debut in Chile will feature a welterweight showdown between ranked contenders Santiago Ponzinibbio and Neil Magny. Apparently, however, the card nearly got a welterweight showdown between Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman instead. At least, that’s what Usman is claiming. In a Thursday evening Twitter post, Usman divulged that he’d been offered a fight with Ponzinibbio, and that he had accepted this offer. He then claimed that Ponzinibbio turned down the fight.

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Darren Till can’t get a fight even though he’s headlining a major UFC Liverpool card. Kamaru Usman is sitting just above him in the rankings, but can’t get a fight either. The two recently went at it on Twitter, but doesn’t believe it will actually result in them fighting at UFC Liverpool. Why? First, because Usman doesn’t believe the UFC wants Till to lose on hs own show. Second, because the stalling at the top of welterweight. “The UFC got itself in a situation here. This is the situation right now in the welterweight division: Darren Till and I are sitting at No. 7 and No. 8. No one above us will take a fight with either him or I, absolutely not. A couple of guys above us are actually terrified of us. Colby Covington being the first one. He is definitely terrified because he only wants [Tyron] Woodley. He thinks, ‘I already got up here, so I’m not going to risk getting beat up by any of these other guys. If I’m going to get beat up I want to get paid for it by fighting Woodley.’ Nobody above us will fight us.”

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

Yesterday evening, UFC welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Darren Till engaged in a heated back-and-forth on Twitter. Shortly thereafter, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz involved several other top welterweights with a followup Tweet – including Jorge Masvidal, who didn’t take kindly to what was being said. Here’s how it all went down.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2018

Kamaru Usman wants to fight Colby Covington. At this point, that could not be any more clear. “The Nigerian Nightmare” has made countless callouts of his welterweight rival on Twitter over the last few weeks. That little bitch don’t want this work. That’s why he won’t say my name. I’ve been waiting on him @seanshelby @danawhite @AliAbdelaziz00 https://t.co/XoVYoQxFwl

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Kamaru Usman wants to fight Colby Covington. At this point, that’s no secret. Apparently, however, Usman is getting tired of waiting for his fellow welterweight contender to oblige him. On Monday, “The Nigerian Nightmare” once again called out his rival, this time challenging him to a showdown at UFC 224, which goes down May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – a nation packed to the edges with Covington haters. Apparently, if Covington doesn’t answer Usman’s calls this time, Usman will never entertain the idea of fighting him again.

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

It’s 2018 and Darren Till still hasn’t been booked. You can chalk it up to scared opponents, intelligent strategy, or just the UFC’s booking department. Either way, he’s been wanting a fight ever since his dominant performance against veteran Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Pretty much every welterweight in the entire division has been in talks for a fight with the Scouser, but none have materialized. Till’s eyebrows  raised up for Kamaru Usman’s fight last weekend, thinking Usman was going to call him out, but alas it didn’t happen. He once again voiced his frustrations in a recent interview. “I thought if [Kamaru Usman] won, he would definitely say my name. I didn’t even watch the fight, but all I’ve heard is that he has terrible striking and all he did was force his opponent up against the fence. He might be able to do that to Emil Meek, but he wouldn’t be able to do it to me. I’m twice the size of him for f-ck’s sake. I’m twice as strong as him. Usman has been talking so much sh-t and his performance didn’t prove anything to anyone. He’s saying that he was at 30 percent, but once you’re in that cage your excuses go out the window. It doesn’t matter if you’re feeling ill or if you’ve got a broken bone, you’ve gone in there because you’ve decided that you’re in good enough condition to fight. I don’t believe in any of that bullsh-t.”

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

Last night, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated debut in St. Louis, streaking welterweight contender Kamaru Usman wrestled a tough Emil Meek to a decisive unanimous decision win. In his post-fight speech, “The Nigerian Nightmare” explained that he’d executed this win at “30%”. While Usman’s win was undeniably dominant, it didn’t do much to impress UFC President Dana White. White also didn’t like Usman’s 30% comment.

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

A giant specimen with natural strength and constantly evolving skills. Six UFC fights, all finishes, complete with an action movie-style knockout over Alistair Overeem. This is Francis Ngannou. The next big thing. The monster who is walking into the Octagon in a week against Stipe Miocic, a fight the heavyweight champion says himself that the UFC wants him to lose. However, can Ngannou fulfill all of the UFC’s prophecies? Francis Ngannou thinks he can and he will, in two rounds at UFC 220 in Boston. “I’ve never been in that level but I always train for that level. When I go to my training camp, I train my conditioning, everything, I prepare [for] a regular fight, for the regular round fight. Even the fight against Alistair Overeem, I was already prepared for five rounds because I knew I was going to have Stipe [Miocic] after that. That is the problem because people always want to believe what they see.”

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

Kamaru Usman is frustrated to say the least. He’s campaigned for the better part of a year for higher ranked names to test himself against, but the fights never got booked. All of the big fights he’s wanted have either passed him by for some reason or another, or have been taken by Colby Covington. So, make no mistake that going into his fight this Sunday against Emil Meek, he’s going to fight the man who was willing to step up, but he’s not taking his eyes off of bigger things. Sooner or later, he believes he and Covington will have to fight. Not just because the natural progression of the rankings, but because it is written in the book of fate. “It’s a fight that has to happen. It’s a fight that has to happen because I believe this is fate. This fight has been written. How much of a small world do we live in? I was a little boy born in Auchi, Nigera, in a country full of over 200 million people, in a small farm town. To get to the point where I immigrate here, I’m in America, to where I get to college and I cross paths with the people that I have. Let’s just summarize this a little bit: Me and Jon Jones crossed paths senior year of high school. We met at senior nationals, a big wrestling tournament, and after that, we became friends. ‘Hey, I’m going to go to school in Iowa next year.’ He said, ‘I’m going to go to school in Iowa [too].’ That’s great. We stayed in touch.”

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

For weeks and weeks, the status of Kamaru Usman and Emil Meek’s anticipated welterweight scrap has been uncertain. Originally, the fight was scheduled to occur at UFC 219, on December 30 in Las Vegas. Regrettably, it became known that Norway’s Meek was having a difficult time acquiring a US visa, which shrouded this contest in doubt. At that point, Usman claims to have been offered a replacement fight with fellow welterweight contender Colby Covington, which he claims Covington turned down. From there, Meek secured his visa in time for his visit to the US, assuring that he’d fight on Usman at UFC 219 after all, but apparently it was too little too late. The fight was removed from UFC 219, while multiple reports suggested it would likely be rescheduled for UFC 220, which goes down on January 20 in Boston.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Though it’s still an undeniably strong card, UFC 219 has not had an easy go. Ever since it was announced, the December 30 card has been rocked, rattled and reassembled by injuries and other issues, and this week, the trend is continuing. According to Ariel Helwani, the card is now down one welterweight contender clash, as the 12th-ranked Kamaru Usman’s scrap with Emil Meek is being rescheduled for UFC 220, which goes down January 20 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tom Taylor - November 15, 2017

Originally, rising UFC welterweight contender Kamaru Usman was expected to battle the dangerous Emil “Valhalla” Meek at UFC 219. Unfortunately, it sounds like visa issues could force Norway’s Meek out of this planned showdown – which means Usman will have to look elsewhere for a dance partner. Just received information that my visa is having some delays and that he UFC might have to re-schedule my next fight :/ #betsafe #ufc219 pic.twitter.com/afta292YiN

Justin Golightly - November 14, 2017

Kamaru Usman, along with all the fight fans looking forward to UFC 219, have simply not had the best of luck. There is no main event, Dominick Cruz is off the card and now Usman’s opponent Emil Meek will not be making it to the card due to a Visa issue. After Usman aired his grievances of multiple opponents ‘ducking’ leading up to the now-canceled fight, it’s easy to see how the surging welterweight is frustrated. Luckily, the game Darren Till has stepped up and wants the fight. I guess I wasn’t lying… @emilvalhalla for stepping up. Now everyone else can get back to @ColbyCovMMA @darrentill2 @danawhite @seanshelby @Mickmaynard2

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that streaking welterweight contender Kamaru Usman had been paired with Norwegian knockout artist Emil Meek for a fight at UFC 219. Now, however, Usman is claiming this bout is in jeopardy, as Meek might not be able to make it to the event. Usman also claims the UFC has reached out to Colby Covington to replace Meek. My opponent might not be able to make it Dec30th so @ColbyCovMMA let me hear your excuses now why you can’t make it either

Justin Golightly - October 20, 2017

With seven welterweight match-ups booked from now until the end of the year, it was curious that Kamaru Usman became the odd man out. He didn’t find it that confusing though, he actually thought he knew the answer. The fact of the matter is, Usman thinks he hasn’t got a big name opponent because those would-be challengers knew they didn’t have a shot. It’s only fitting that the only guy who rose to the occasion is a viking. That’s right, Usman has been booked to fight Emil Meek at UFC 219. BREAKING: Kamaru Usman (@USMAN84kg) vs. Emil Meek (@emilvalhalla) added to #UFC219 in Vegas (December 30th) #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/OBtKgPXA91

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2017

11th-ranked UFC welterweight contender Kamaru Usman has been looking for a fight, and from the sounds of it, he’s found one. On Wednesday afternoon, the grappling specialist announced on Twitter that his fans want to see him fight Neil Magny, and that he intends on heeding their calls. In his Tweet, he suggested UFC 218 on December 2 and UFC 219 on December 30 as possible dates for this potential scrap.

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2017

Over the last few days, several rumors have surfaced suggesting that rising UFC welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Mike Perry might soon collide in the cage. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, however, Usman assured that there’s nothing in the works with Perry, and that he’s instead keen on a fight with former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Kamaru Usman’s issues with Anjos stem from the Brazilian’s rapid rise through the welterweight rankings – something he does not feel is justified.