Kamaru Usman will look to end the hype of Khamzat Chimaev this coming Saturday at UFC 294.
This will mark “The Nigerian Nightmare’s” middleweight debut in what feels like a well overdue move up from welterweight.
The opportunity came in unpredictable circumstances as the former welterweight champion accepted the fight on 11 days notice, after Paulo Costa pulled out of his fight with Chimaev.
Usman spoke about the situation with reporters UFC 294 media day.
“My whole career has been preparing me for moments like this. This is what we do, fighters fight. It’s another opportunity to test yourself and to elevate yourself and it’s part of being a man.
“I think he’s as advertised. He’s very tough, very strong, he’s big, he can strike, he can wrestle, he can grapple, he can do it all but so can I. But you don’t know until you know, ignorance is bliss sometimes and I give him all the props, he’s done everything he needed to do with what he’s been presented with,” he said.
Despite the 36-year-old having took the fight on such short notice, he assured the media that he hasn’t just been ‘sitting at home’.
“This is our career, we’ve not just been sitting at home doing absolutely nothing, we’re in the gym learning, we’re growing,” Usman said.
With the making of this fight, Dana White decided that the winner would be next to fight the champion, Sean Strickland. Usman already holds a victory over the current middleweight champion dating back to 2017, and claimed it’s a ‘nightmare matchup’ for Strickland.
“Sean has definitely grown a lot but I think the most important thing is he’s grown into his identity of a fighter. He accepts the fact that he fights in a particular style and he’s leaned into it, he’s grown exponentially.
“Styles make fights, I said it when I came into the game, I’m a nightmare for certain people to deal with and I just think that matchup is a nightmare for Sean Strickland.”
Watch the full UFC 294 media day appearance from Kamaru Usman above.
