Kamaru
Usman is set on a collision course with
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Sean
Strickland, provided he can get past his upcoming opponent.
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Former welterweight champ Usman (20-3) has stepped up on nine days’
notice to make his middleweight debut in a title eliminator against
Khamzat
Chimaev (12-0) at UFC 294 on Oct. 21., and the winner has been
promised an immediate title shot. In 2017, Usman notched a
unanimous decision win over Strickland, one of the many
up-and-comers he left in his wake while rising to the top of the
welterweight division. Strickland subsequently moved up to 185
pounds, where he went on a win streak and eventually earned a
last-minute title shot against Israel
Adesanya when Dricus Du
Plessis was forced out due to injury. “Tarzan” shocked the
world with an elite defensive display to cruise to a lopsided
unanimous decision victory in a major upset. While “The Nigerian
Nightmare” admits that Strickland has vastly improved since then,
he believes he’s still a difficult matchup for the newly crowned
champ. Usman said during the UFC 294 media day:
“This is MMA. Styles make fights. Sean, I think he’s definitely
grown a lot, of course, but I think most importantly he’s grown
into his identity of a fighter. He accepts the fact that he fights
a particular style, a particular way, and he’s just leaned into it
and grown exponentially, and now he’s the champion. But styles make
fights, you know. 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. But he’s grown exponentially. He’s improved.”
Usman is coming off consecutive defeats against Leon
Edwards, losing his strap thanks to a shocking head-kick
knockout before suffering a majority decision loss in the rematch
at UFC 286. Meanwhile, Chimaev had never gone the distance in his
career before his clash with Usman’s former teammate Gilbert
Burns last year at UFC 273. While “Borz” picked up a unanimous
decision win, the surging contender seemed beatable for the first
time.