TUF 29 winner Mohammed Usman is coming off a huge win over Junior Tafa just a few weeks ago at UFC Vegas 71. Now, after a bit of recovery, he’s looking for a fast turnaround.
Usman (9-2) went the distance with Tafa, securing a hard-fought unanimous decision victory. When the scores were being announced, the heavyweight was 100% confident he had the win in the bag.
“I feel like I got the job done all across the board,” Usman told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “It was a tough fight for me because of the eight months off from my first fight, and I had my surgery on my thumb.” Usman, brother of former UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, noted that he was in good shape for the fight, “but when you get in there, it’s different. The eight months away, I felt it.”
“It wasn’t that you were tired, it’s that when you mix that in with adrenaline, it’s almost like you’re powerless. So it was good. I’m glad I got the job done, that’s the number one thing.”
“The Motor” added that fights “aren’t always going to be pretty, but when you go out there and beat these guys that are really good guys, it’s a testament to my coaches and to everything we work for.”
In terms of a turnaround, Usman doesn’t want to stay down long, and is looking to fight again this summer. “We’re looking at August, August turnaround,” he stated. “I want to jump back in there. I don’t have no injuries, God willing. I feel good. Let’s go. Time waits for no one.”
Past August, he’s looking to get one more fight in to close out the year.
“We’re going to do two more fights this year. God willing, knock on wood we’re going to do two more fights this year. I’m healthy, I’m going to do one in August, and we’ll try to get one in December,” said Usman. “I’m very confident, and I’m very focused. And I want to get this done.”
The heavyweight noted that he’s still learning, and falling in love with the process. “Every fight ain’t gonna be pretty, every fight ain’t gonna be Guns N’ Roses, man. Especially when I’m in the UFC heavyweight division.”
Heavyweight, according to Usman, is different. “Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of weight classes, a lot of divisions, but at heavyweight, in the UFC, ain’t nothing pretty about what we do here man. I would love to go out and just wrestle and roll around and look good in front of these people. But it’s different when you have a guy who’s 260 pounds throwing a sledgehammer at you. That’s a whole different sport.”
“So yeah man, I want to fight two more times this year, and God willing, I’m going to go 3-0 this year, roll them over to my next year, then get into the top 15. Then start that climb. Everything’s on course to be exactly where we want.”
Watch our full interview with UFC heavyweight Mohammed Usman above.
