Kamaru Usman is 39 years old, frequently injured, sports two bad knees, and lost four of his last five.
That might sound like retirement criteria to most people, but the former UFC welterweight champion is not going anywhere just yet. That’s according to longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz, who insists “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still a force to be reckoned with — in the right weight class.
“Kamaru Usman is not going to retire,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “He’s fighting the best guys in the he world. He fought (Joaquin) Buckley and beat him. Before that he fought Khamzat (Chimaev) on 10 days’ notice. He’s not losing – nobody is whipping Kamaru’s ass. He’s always in the fight. I was always against going to middleweight, because I think he’s too small for middleweight.”
Usman (21-5) has only been stopped once in his UFC career, a 2022 knockout loss to Leon Edwards.
“If he decides to stay, I think he needs to go back to welterweight, and there’s a lot of great matchups for him at welterweight,” Abdelaziz said. “He was the right opponent for Islam [Makhachev]. He was Islam’s toughest fight. He proved it because he handled a guy that is 20 pounds heavier than him on fight day. Not taking anything away from Du Plessis, he’s a great fighter, and he won fair and square. Kamaru was always there in the fight. He came on hard late in the fight.”
Abdelaziz previously tried (and failed) to land this marquee matchup.
Usman is coming off a unanimous decision loss to former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Oklahoma just last month, a bout that had “The Nigerian Nightmare” at a considerable size disadvantage. A return to welterweight would likely make the most sense at this stage of the game.
I mean, we all do.
50-45 while getting wobbled in almost every round and looking at the ref to make the other guy stop hitting him like that sure seems like it to me. But my opinion is garbage so whatever.
wrong
His knees are so bad he has to hold his wing chin narrow stance and keep his opponent directly in front or he stumbles like he is getting knockdown off every right hand. His hard head keeps him in the game literally and figuratively.
His late career has been a headscratcher:
-Dominates 6-fight win streak Buckley, putting himself on the shortlist of contenders at 170
(He is also a bad matchup for nearly everyone at 170 and possibly the worst matchup for the champ)
-Sits out for over a year at 38 years old for no apparent reason
-Returns at 185
And faked an eye-gouge that most likely would have had him finished.
Just like he faked the groin kick against Colby in there first fight.