Kamaru Uman become a titleholder in two divisions, considering all he has accomplished. The second title is at 205 lbs.
In an interview with GQ ,, the UFC’s reigning welterweight champion said that he considered competing for a second title at the light heavyweight division in the past year. This would mean that there are two weight classes above the 170-pound class Usman fights in. However, Usman stated previously that he is not interested in facing Israel Adesanya (a friend of his Nigerian heritage) and has no desire to fight him 185-pound champion.
Usman had his sights set on Jan Blachowicz, who successfully defended his light heavyweight title against Adesanya at UFC 259 before dropping it to Glover Teixeira seven months later.
” I was planning to skip Israel in order to fight Jan at 205 [pounds],” Usman stated. “Because he’s pound-forpound, I want it to be proven. I found him to be a great matchup, no matter how heavy it was
Usman currently ranks No. 1 in MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings.
Though Blachowicz is no longer the champion, he remains one of the most highly regarded fighters in the sport having won nine out of 10 fights before his loss to Teixeira. The Polish power puncher’s victories include Adesanya and Dominick Reyes as well as current Bellator star Corey Anderson, Ronaldo Souza and Luke Rockhold, who were all former champions at middleweight.
Only, Usman enjoyed his chance against the former champion.
“I think I would beat him,” Usman said.
Usman spoke with GQ also about their rivalry against Colby Covington. This two-fight feud has resulted in Usman having his hand raised twice after almost 10 rounds. It generated plenty of headlines because of Covington’s trash talk.
Not known for having an outlandish personality, Usman said he understands why Covington and other fighters have to create a persona to market themselves even if he doesn’t take that same approach.
“Conor McGregor is a perfect example,” Usman said. “Completely ignore the respect aspect and you get super famous. These kids are now so famous and rich that they don’t even consider respect.
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