Kamaru
Usman hasn’t lost ambition despite recently turning 38 years of
age.
Usman (20-4) headlines
UFC on ESPN 69 against Joaquin
Buckley (21-6) this weekend at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta,
Georgia. “The Nigerian Nightmare” recently laid out his planned
career trajectory if he beats Buckley. With former lightweight
champ Islam
Makhachev expected to challenge Jack
Della Maddalena for the welterweight title next, Usman wants a
crack at the winner.
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Rather than stopping there, after claiming the 170-pound throne, he
plans to move up and make a bid for the middleweight belt to become
a two-division champ—but not simultaneous, as the UFC has actively
tried to avoid that of late. Usman said at the UFC
Atlanta media day:
“I’ll lay out the map,” Usman chronicled. “Finish Buckley this
weekend, and then wait for the winner of Islam vs. JDM… I love
Islam, he’s a great fighter, I think that’s something that we’ll
both remember forever… Win that [against Islam], and then go
ahead and probably vacate, go up [and fight] Dricus Du
Plessis if he is the champion, or Khamzat
Chimaev. If Dricus is the champ we do that in the first card in
Africa… and then after that, now you’re sitting with two belts
like, ‘what do we do next.’”
Usman lost his title via a last-minute shock upset against Leon
Edwards in 2022. In the immediate rematch, “Rocky” captured a
majority verdict to seal the deal on “The Nigerian Nightmare” on
top of the welterweight ladder. Large for his division, Usman moved
up to middleweight to face Chimaev in October 2023 and dropped a
decision. He has not competed since that loss.
Meanwhile, standing between Usman and his dreams is Buckley, riding
a six-fight winning streak with four finishes. His current stretch
includes victories over names including Vicente
Luque, Stephen
Thompson and Colby
Covington, beating all three by knockout.