Kamaru
Usman is weighing options regarding his future in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
After suffering a one-sided loss to Dricus Du
Plessis in the
UFC Oklahoma City main event, the former welterweight champion
admitted that retirement is now a legitimate possibility as he
evaluates the next step in his career.
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Kamaru Usman discusses retirement, Dricus Du Plessis loss and
his UFC future
Usman plans to consult his coaches before making a decision on his
future. The Nigerian-American revealed that retirement is very much
on the cards after his recent defeat.
“Right now, I just have to sit with the coaches, sit with the team,
assess everything,” Usman said on the „Pound 4 Pound“ podcast.
“Assess the place where I’m at in my career. Just all in all, see
whether it’s worth continuing to do this. Whether it’s worth
continuing to put them through that.”
Usman explained that while previous defeats still left him with
positives to build on, the loss to du Plessis felt different. He
cited his knockout loss to Leon
Edwards, the short-notice defeat against Khamzat
Chimaev and the Edwards trilogy bout as performances in which
he still believes he represented himself well.
“This one was a hard one because I felt like I didn’t do that,”
Usman said. “There was something to build off of for those fights.
This one, to the untrained eye, looks like I bit off more than I
could chew. Even though I may not feel that on the inside, it
looked that way and I don’t like that.”
Having accomplished so much in his career, Usman admits it’s
difficult to leave the sport behind after experiencing the highest
highs.
“This is just as difficult a place to be when we’ve achieved so
much and you’ve got so many highs in the sport,” the 39-year-old
added. “When you start to feel the lows, it’s not that great… It
puts you in a really difficult and really tough place to make a
tough and potentially permanent decision.”