Kamaru Usman says Khamzat Chimaev “wasn’t that special” but admitted to being in his own head after stepping in on just 9 days’ notice.
Despite losing his welterweight world title to Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman proved that he remains championship caliber in October 2023 when he took the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev to a hard-fought decision.
On the latest episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ explained that he headed into UFC 294 on short notice with a doubtful mindset, but added that there wasn’t anything special about ‘Borz’ when the cage door locked behind them.
Kamaru Usman explains mindset going into Khamzat Chimaev fight
Despite losing a close majority decision to Chimaev, the former welterweight champion impressed fans and pundits alike as he moved up to middleweight to face the undefeated contender on just 9-days’ notice.
Speaking with Chael Sonnen and Henry Cejudo on the latest episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman explained how the hype surrounding Khamzat Chimaev failed to translate into genuine ‘fear’ come fight night:
“You get in those types of fights and those positions where you build something up in your mind in your head and especially now in this machine of the UFC, you build them up in your head then you get in there and you go ‘that wasn’t that special’, there was nothing different that I hadn’t seen.”
Usman noted that if he had been able to offer a little more threat: “Had I given it a little bit more, had I given myself a little bit more credit, that [result] would have been totally different.”
Yet when it came to fight night itself, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ admitted that he was doubtful of his place in the UFC following back-to-back losses to Leon Edwards:
“Coming off of losing my title, you want to assess everything: Do I change, do I do this or do I do that, am I really that guy again, am I not that guy, am I big enough, am I not big enough…I asked for more time with the UFC but they didn’t really give it to me now I have nine days…What do I do?”
The symbol of a true champion isn’t how he responds in victory, but how he corrects the mistakes that led to losses, with Usman proving his status as an all-time great with a hugely impressive showing.
“It was after the end of the fight, it was just in my head saying why, why did I doubt myself – don’t do that again.”
Usman doesn’t have a scheduled fight just yet with the possibility of a rematch with ‘Borz’ still alive for later in 2024 – who wouldn’t want to see him running it back with Chimaev on a full training camp?