How Many Title Defenses Does Kamaru Usman Have? How Long Did He Hold the UFC Welterweight Championship?

In an unexpected turn of events, Kamaru Usman is making his return to the Octagon at UFC 294. He has replaced Paulo Costa to fight the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, we have decided to take a look ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s championship record during his time in the UFC as he gears up for his second fight in 2023.

Kamaru Usman is arguably one of the best welterweights in the history of the promotion. Before losing the title in 2022, Usman was on one of the longest undefeated streaks of all time. Let us take a look at the record of Usman’s title wins and defenses.

Kamaru Usman earns the UFC welterweight title after beating Tyron Woodley at UFC 235

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was an unstoppable force from the day he joined the UFC. He fought his first fight for the promotion in 2015. Since then, he racked up wins against the likes of Damian Maia, Rafael dos Anjos, and Sean Strickland and amassed a record of 9 wins in a row before earning a title shot. Thereafter, he challenged Tyron Woodley for the welterweight championship.

Usman and Woodley fought each other at UFC 235. The former dominated the latter, out-striking him to capture the welterweight belt. He also became the first Nigerian-born UFC champion in the promotion’s history. He later went on to defend his belt a few times before losing it a few years later. Let us now take a peek at his title defenses.

First title defense against Colby Covington and eventual loss to Leon Edwards

Kamaru Usman defended his title successfully on five occasions. He defended the belt first against Colby Covington and won a TKO decision at UFC 245. He then took on Jorge Masvidal. He clinched a unanimous decision in their first contest in 2020. Usman then registered a win over Gilbert Burns via TKO in the third round. Usman then took on Masvidal in a rematch where he dismantled the former BMF champion by knocking him out in the second round. He looked unstoppable and was one of the most dominant champions at the peak of his title reign. Usman also racked up a 15-fight winning streak in the UFC. After dominating the welterweight division for three years as champion, his run finally came to an end.

Kamaru Usman faced Leon Edwards, who was his second UFC opponent, in a rematch at UFC 278. He dominated the English fighter throughout the first four rounds. It created one of the most memorable moments in the UFC when Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, gave an inspiring speech to grab the win in the final round. As such, Leon Edwards delivered one of the best KOs the UFC has ever seen. Thereafter, ‘Rocky’ and Usman faced each other in the trilogy, but Usman could not regain his championship.

Read More: “Hospitalized”- Paulo Costa Makes Huge Confession to Dana White as Khamzat Chimaev Takes On Kamaru Usman at UFC 294

Kamaru Usman has not won a fight since UFC 268. He’d like to hope to change that at UFC 294. Dana White had already made his fight against Khamzat Chimaev a title contender fight, so we might see Usman jump ship to the middleweight division permanently. Regardless of the outcome, we can expect guaranteed action when both these fighters square off on October 21st.

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