“This Is Its Defense Mechanism”: Disclosing His Unusual Pre-Fight Ritual, Former Champ Kamaru Usman Reveals He’s Been in a “Weird” Situation Following His Loss Against Leon Edwards

Kamaru Usman was one of the toughest fighters in the UFC and once ruled the UFC welterweight division. After stepping foot in the UFC in 2015, he remained an undefeated fighter for seven long years. In 2019, he became the welterweight king and defended his belt six times. His reign as a champion ended when he faced Leon Edwards for a rematch at UFC 278 in August 2022. While their first match at UFC on Fox 17 was in favor of Usman, in the second match, Edwards emerged victorious. Usman lost his welterweight title to Edwards.

Yet another heavy blow waited for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at their trilogy bout at UFC 286. He lost the fight via decision after the five-round bout. At the moment, it would be quite difficult for the 35-year-old to reach the title once again after losing twice to ‘Rocky’. Recently, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ talked about the rituals before every fight. Moreover, he detailed his current situation after facing two consecutive losses.

Kamaru Usman explains his weird situation and pre-fight processes

Usman was talking on the show Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. When asked about his next step, Usman said, “I’m kind of in a, I want to say weird. I don’t want to say weird, but it’s a little unfamiliar territory for me. Let me explain that because you know got into the sport and it was just like I’m gonna be the champion, that’s it. I was like I’m gonna be the champion. That was it. There wasn’t a Plan B C D or E.”

He further detailed how he viewed himself only as a champion. “No, it was just I’m gonna be the champion one day, so it’s every day. Whether it’s every run, whether it’s every extra swim or it’s leading towards that. That was always it for me and then I got there. I’m like ‘oh man that’s cool.’“

In the latter part of the conversation, Kamaru Usman detailed the process he goes through before every fight. He added, “You got an hour left. You know you got to get up you got to start warming up, and you got to put your shorts, you gotta put these wraps on and do your stomach you can’t consume no food…”

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He continued, “It’s something about that moment. It’s just you’re there and every time I’m sleepy they’re wrapping. I’m nodding off, I’m falling asleep but this but this is your body like knowing what’s about to happen and this is its defense mechanism.“

Rocky destroyed The Nigerian Nightmare’s career

After his two consecutive losses against Edwards, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s’ career started to go downhill. Initially, he overtook Jon Jones and was ranked #1 in the UFC Men’s Pound for Pound rankings in October 2021. However, his position at the top was short-lived; after facing two losses against Edwards, he fell drastically from the PFP ladder. He has dropped to the 8th position in the PFP rankings.

At the moment, it is difficult to predict how Usman’s fighting career will move forward. The fans need to wait to find out who Kamaru Usman will fight next and whether he will be able to come back strongly for yet another title reign. Who do you think he should fight next?

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