News
Jake’s Takes – the career of Kamaru Usman could be over soon
Since his title win in 2019, Kamaru Usman has climbed his way to the UFC’s top pound-for-pound spot. The legacy of ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is already set in stone, but he is still defending his welterweight title. Could the end be nigh for Usman?
This is my two cents on it all – this is Jake’s Takes!
***
For the years during his ascent, Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman was dubbed the dark horse of the welterweight division. After his TUF win, Usman put a six-fight win-streak together but was not rising the ranks as others would. The wins may have come against a lower level of competition that wanted, the performances showed that Usman was absolutely a force to be reckoned with.
Usman’s breakout performance came against Demian Maia over the course of five rounds, in Santiago, Chile. Fans critized the slow pace of the bout, but it proved that Nigeria’s finest could control the fight against the best in the world. Another impressive showing against former champion Rafael dos Anjos cemented Usman’s status as a title threat.
The title opportunity finally came for Usman in early 2019. Champion Tyron Woodley was riding three successful title defenses coming into the bout, including a recent finish over Darren Till. The hype meant nothing to Usman, who dominated and battered Woodley for five rounds, en route to a 50-44 decision. To the surprise of many, Kamaru Usman had become the new welterweight champion, and had done so in emphatic fashion.
The next three years told the story of Usman’s dominance. A switch in camp saw ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ improve his boxing skills and develop his punching power. Five title defenses later, Usman now sits atop discussions of being the greatest welterweight of all-time. The consensus remains that the distinction of greatest remains with Georges St. Pierre, but if Usman continues his reign, he could overtake the great GSP.
With his next title defense set to be a summer rematch with Leon Edwards, it got me thinking about Usman’s long-term future in MMA. It’s a topic that has seemed to spring up with the masses in the past few months, regarding Usman’s comments on retirement.
The champion understands that his fighting career will not always be viable, and that he will have to hang the gloves up at some point. Speaking to Damon Martin after his KO win over Jorge Masvidal, he said, “Being a realist and I’m honest with myself and I know that I can’t do this forever, and I don’t want to do this forever.”
“I’m just so far ahead of these guys that I’m coming back around and I’m lapping them now,” he continued. “So, talking to some of my mentors, and some of the greatest that have done this, what they’re telling me at some point it’s going to start, that waking up in the morning and going to the gym to put in a day’s work is going to start to get heavier and heavier when nothing really motivates me like that anymore.”
Before his rematch with Colby Covington at UFC 268, Usman had a similar point to make to media asking him about potential future fights. “I’ve been nine weeks now away from my daughter, and FaceTime does help, but it doesn’t do it justice, as far as being there each and every day. So, obviously, I don’t know how much longer I’m willing to do this. They have to make sense for me now.”
To me, those are the words of a man who does have a way out on his mind. Fans of Usman know that he is a family man who is prioritising his external needs right now. The end of Usman’s career could be sooner rather than later, if we are to believe his comments.
What further pushes this idea for me is the recent interactions with Conor McGregor for the champion. Should McGregor pull his trump card out and score himself a 170lb title shot, I don’t think Usman will say no to a payday of that magnitude. By the UFC’s standards, he has earned himself a ‘superfight’. It’s that superfight we speak of that could see Usman bow out of the sport on a high-note.
Despite those callouts from McGregor, Usman has yet to confirm or deny that he is interested in the fight. He is confident that, if the fight does happen, that he will “retire [McGregor]”.
One fight that has been on the champion’s tongue is a boxing match with undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. Usman and his team are confident that they can bring the fight to the Mexican boxer. The UFC, however, have shut down any possibility of this happening.
“I think that [Usman] serious about it; he shouldn’t be serious about it,” Dana White told Sky Sports. “I don’t like that fight at all. Everything about it is horrible. Usman is not a boxer. Canelo is probably the best guy out there right now. It’s a stupid fight that makes no sense.”
If the callout from Usman is anything more than a media stunt, this is fairly conclusive proof that the champ is looking for challenges outside of the routine contenders in his division. Is it a fair assumption to make that Usman could retire if he doesn’t get a lucrative superfight in the near future?
Of course, there are still other challenges at 170lbs that are looking to earn their chances at gold. Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad are set to throw down in a title eliminator, and Khamzat Chimaev has enough fan support to get a title shot with another win. For fans, those matchups may be intruiging but Usman isn’t overly-eager to fight those challengers until they make a solid case. As mentioned in his earlier quote, Usman is taking fights that “make sense for [him].”
Still, before any of that can hypothetically happen, Usman has to get through the challenge that is Leon Edwards. Even if retirement is on his mind, the champ has made it clear to the media that he is taking this fight very seriously. “If Leon wants the smoke in July, I’ll put him to sleep too.”
If everything goes according to plan, this year could be the year that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ leaves his historic legacy behind.
After much deliberation, striking veterans Liam Harrison and Seksan Or Kwanmuang have finally found a date for their highly anticipated clash.
The pair will meet in a 140-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest when ONE Championship returns to the U.S. for ONE 168: Denver on Saturday, 7th September.
The event inside Denver, Colorado’s Ball Arena is already stacking up to be one of the biggest cards of the year for the world’s largest martial arts organization, and the addition of this matchup will only increase the hype among martial arts fans.
Harrison has been on the sidelines for some time now. He suffered a worrying knee injury when he challenged former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama for the gold at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, and he had to overcome further complications before thinking about a return to action.
The British striking legend will have a chance to shake off the cobwebs before colliding with Seksan, however, as he is scheduled to make his way back to ONE for a battle with Katsuki Kitano at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on 8th June.
“Hitman” will need all the preparation he can get for his match with Seksan. The former Rajadamnern Stadium and WBC Muay Thai World Champion has built a fearsome reputation in ONE Championship over the last 15 months, given that he amassed eight consecutive wins after his debut last January.
Seksan appeared unstoppable in the promotion until he met Japanese star Yutaro Asashi at ONE Friday Fights 58 earlier this month.
After three thrilling rounds of Muay Thai, the Thai veteran fell to a unanimous decision loss, which means he’ll be charged up for a triumphant return to form against Harrison.
And with “Hitman” keen to find his way back to the top in ONE, their clash in Denver on 7th September is all but guaranteed to be a barnburner.
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garcia’s victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garcia’s part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.
The UFC hasn’t sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:
“A boxing fight’s possible for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it.
O’Malley continued: “They told me ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money’. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fight”.
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and O’Malley this week with the caption: “RAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW”
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean O’Malley became the UFC’s bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
The next step in the fascinating UFC journey of Alex Pereira remains to be seen. ‘Poatan’ pulled off a sensational knockout finish over Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event bout at UFC 300 to defend his light heavyweight belt.
In his post-fight interview, the Brazilian called for the opportunity to compete at heavyweight at UFC 301 which takes place in Rio De Janeiro in just a couple of weeks. UFC president Dana White seemed unenthusiastic about that idea, however, and it seems now that the dust has settled after 300, Pereira is a little more willing to take his time before signing up for his next fight.
In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, Pereira was asked if he’d rather defend his 205lb title again or test the waters in the heavyweight division. He responded:
“It’s hard to answer that. I haven’t thought too much about it yet. If it’s a longer period of time, I’d obviously rather defend my belt. If it takes too long and I fight at heavyweight and there are injuries, when am I going to defend my belt? I don’t want to hold up the division.
I was imagining the best-case scenario when I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, but I have two broken toes. Both feet are f*cked. It’s complicated. I don’t want to hold up the light heavyweight division. A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight at 301 and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been cool”.
205lb contender Magomed Ankalaev has called for a fight with Pereira on the UFC’s October pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi, but ‘Poatan’ brushed that idea off instantly, saying:
“I don’t want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won’t be ready. I don’t know why he said that. This guy is complicated”.
If Pereira manages to get another win under his belt and is ready to go again before the end of the year, he said he would much rather compete on the Madison Square Garden event in November, which is closer to his current home in Danbury.
“It makes total sense” he said. “Wait one more month and I’m fighting at home? It’s so much better”.
-
News3 years agoKing of Lethwei Dave Leduc BANNED from Myanmar and competing in the sport
-
News3 years agoSam Kapoi, half-brother of Max Holloway, sentenced for meth possession
-
News3 years agoNathias Frederick vs Matthew Bonner revealed for Cage Warriors 123
-
News3 years agoUAE Warriors 19 & 20 fight cards
-
News3 years agoPaige VanZant is seeking a KO victory over Rachael Ostovich
-
News3 years agoThe Latinas of Combate Global set for world domination
-
News2 years agoFans disgusted at inter-gender MMA fight in Poland
-
Interviews2 years ago
VMTV Vaults | EP.38 – Deniz Ilbay