Kamaru Usman had a chance to follow in Khamzat Chimaev’s footsteps and land a couple of free shots on Belal Muhammad, revenge for their longstanding rivalry (and podcast brawl) after “Remember the Name” was defeated by Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in Montreal.
Instead, the former welterweight champion is mourning the opportunity to parlay their 170-pound grudge into a box office bonanza at some point down the road.
“Why would I be happy because he lost? I hadn’t fought him yet,” Usman told Henry Cejudo during their Pound 4 Pound podcast. “Me and him weren’t the best of friends, I’ll tell you that for sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy that he lost. As far as selling pay-per-views … I understand what this game is. As much as we didn’t like each other, it was still something that people wanted to see, it was something on the cusp of potentially happening so no, I’m not excited that he lost. I’m indifferent.”
Usman has a chance to work his way back to the welterweight title with a winning performance against Joaquin Buckley in the UFC Atlanta main event in just a few weeks. Expect the “Nigerian Nightmare” to avoid the mistakes Muhammad made against Della Maddalena at UFC 315.
“He didn’t go to what he was used to going to,” Usman continued. “Belal is good everywhere, but it was … I don’t want to say it was arrogance, but it was almost like, just smirk and shrug it off, ‘It’s nothing, I’ll get him.’ Next thing you know it’s round two. Next thing you know it’s round three — this guy’s not stopping, he’s not slowing down. Next thing you know it’s round four and then it’s like, ‘Oh my, I really gotta do something now.’ He wasn’t level changing, he wasn’t really trying. JDM was just mixing it up so well.”
For more on Muhammad’s title loss at UFC 315 last weekend in Montreal click here.
