Kamaru Usman seems to have learned from his UFC 294 bout against Khamzat Chimaev – don’t take a last-minute fight against a dangerous undefeated opponent. Despite putting up a good showing, compared to other opponents ‘Borz’ faced, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ came up short on the judges’ scorecards. So when the undefeated Kazakh phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov called for Kamaru Usman as Belal Muhammad’s replacement at UFC 310, the former welterweight king, while considering the option, ultimately humbly declined stating the timeline was too short for him to accept the fight. For now, ‘Nomad’ will face Ian Garry in the co-headliner at 2024’s final UFC PPV card.

One interesting thing to note in the Khamzat Chimaev fight, for Kamaru Usman, was that he would have gotten a chance to fight for the middleweight title, if he had won that fight! Similarly, with the Shavkat Rakhmonov fight, he would have had a chance to contend for the crown that was once his at welterweight if he won. And that is exactly what Rakhmonov pointed out in a conversation with Submission Radio.

“There is not any hesitation that the winner of our fight will fight next for the title. Kamaru had a chance, but now the winner of our fight will be next [to fight for the title],”, said ‘Nomad’. Since Rakhmonov was scheduled to fight for the title before Ian Garry was chosen as his opponent, he most likely will face the welterweight champion next, if he finds success at UFC 310.

However, all is not lost on Usman’s aspirations to regain the welterweight title. While not officially confirmed, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ will most likely face off against Australian finisher Jack Della Maddalena at next year’s Sydney event at UFC 312. MMA journalist Rueben Carter first broke the news of the matchup on X (formerly Twitter). With the fight against ‘JDM’, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has another chance to contend for welterweight gold. While Usman is a beloved figure in the MMA community, fans weren’t happy with him declining the Rakhmonov fight. However, the Nigerian-born American fighter was having none of it!

Kamaru Usman bites back at fans amid ducking allegations

Many consider being compared to Jon Jones a privilege, and Kamaru Usman would agree. However, when fans accused Usman of ducking Shavkat Rakhmonov, similar to how they’re treating Jon Jones, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was mighty offended. Taking to his ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast, the former welterweight king voiced his frustrations to his partner in crime, Henry Cejudo.

“I’m seeing people online that go, ‘Uh, you scared? You duck him?’ This is the same sentiment that I think people are doing to Jon Jones. It’s just like when people, or, fans of a fighter, don’t get their desired wish, that ‘that’s the fight I want’ kind of fight, then it’s like, ‘Oh, no. That guy must be scared because he didn’t take the fight. Guys, shut up!”, Usman said, all fired up. He further stated that fans should be excited for the upcoming UFC 310 co-main event instead of directing their attention towards him.

“Guess what? It’s like your mom telling you, ‘No, you cannot have that toy today.’ You know, you cannot have that toy. Shut your mouth. Instead, we’ve got a banger fight – Shavkat Rakhmonov taking on Ian Garry.”, said Usman. Indeed, that is a banger fight, in his words. With the UFC 310 co-main, and Usman likely facing Della Maddalena next year at UFC 312, the welterweight division is rife with action.

What do you think of Kamaru Usman declining the Shavkat Rakhmonov fight? Do you think he made the right call? Do let us know in the comments down below.