‘Wasn’t that special’… Kamaru Usman explains what shocked him about last-minute fight

Kamaru Usman says Khamzat Chimaev “wasn’t that special” but admitted to being in his own head after stepping in on just 9 days’ notice.

Despite losing his welterweight world title to Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman proved that he stays championship caliber in October 2023 when he took the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev to a hard-fought decision.

On the most recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ explained that he headed into UFC 294 on short notice with a doubtful mindset, but added that there wasn’t anything special about ‘Borz’ when the cage door locked behind them.  

Kamaru Usman explains mindset going into Khamzat Chimaev fight

Despite losing a detailed majority decision to Chimaev, the previous welterweight champion impressed fans and pundits alike as he moved as much as middleweight to face the undefeated contender on just 9-days’ notice.

Speaking with Chael Sonnen and Henry Cejudo on the most recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman explained how the hype surrounding Khamzat Chimaev did not translate into real ‘fear’ come fight night:

“You get in those varieties of fights and people positions where you construct something up in your mind in your head and particularly now on this machine of the UFC, you construct them up in your head then you definately get in there and also you go ‘that wasn’t that special’, there was nothing different that I hadn’t seen.”

Usman noted that if he had been in a position to offer a bit more threat: “Had I given it a bit bit more, had I given myself a bit bit more credit, that [result] would have been totally different.”

Yet when it got here to fight night itself, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ admitted that he was doubtful of his place within the UFC following back-to-back losses to Leon Edwards:  

“Coming off of losing my title, you need to assess every part: Do I alter, do I do that or do I try this, am I actually that guy again, am I not that guy, am I sufficiently big, am I not sufficiently big…I asked for more time with the UFC but they didn’t really give it to me now I even have nine days…What do I do?”

The symbol of a real champion isn’t how he responds in victory, but how he corrects the mistakes that led to losses, with Usman proving his status as an all-time great with a hugely impressive showing.

“It was after the tip of the fight, it was just in my head saying why, why did I doubt myself – don’t try this again.”

Usman doesn’t have a scheduled fight just yet with the potential of a rematch with ‘Borz’ still alive for later in 2024 – who wouldn’t need to see him running it back with Chimaev on a full training camp?

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Tom Llewellyn

Tom Llewellyn is GRV Media’s Head of Combat Sports and a lifelong MMA fan. Actually, his first introduction to the game was reading Bloody Elbow a decade ago, as the web site helped ignite his passion for martial arts with in-depth evaluation and exciting news revelations. Watching the UFC is his biggest passion in life and Tom proudly boasts that he hasn’t missed a PPV event in eight years. Tom is continuously in search of to uncover unique and original MMA stories with expert evaluation of fights, podcasts and interviews. Tom has been a component of GRV Media for 4 years, spending the vast majority of his time desperately hoping the corporate would launch a combat sports website. Finally, he has the prospect to mix editorial experience, MMA knowledge and powerful UFC opinion to assist grow the brand he has loved for 10 years — and counting.

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