At UFC 315 this past Saturday, Kamaru Usman likely watched a guaranteed title fight slip from his grasp as Belal Muhammad’s title reign came to an end.
Jack Della Maddalena was crowned the new UFC welterweight champion this past Saturday at UFC 315 after dominating a five round war against Belal Muhammad.
Following the main event, UFC boss Dana White revealed the injuries Muhammad suffered, including a broken nose, a broken orbital bone, and split his lip from top to bottom, likely requiring surgery.
Muhammad’s performance was criticized and he was ultimately roasted by UFC star Khamzat Chimaev, who reveled in his defeat.
Kamaru Usman disappointed with Muhammad’s UFC title loss
With ‘Remember The Name’s’ reign not even lasting a year, he didn’t get to defend his title against any of the top 170lb contenders, one of which being former champion, Kamaru Usman.
Usman and Muhammad have an ongoing feud after Muhammad claimed he made Usman cry during an appearance on his podcast.
Prior to his title fight against Della Maddalena, Muhammad claimed that Usman could skip the line in terms of earning a title shot because of their feud, if he retained his title at UFC 315.
But now with Belal’s title reign having come to an end, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has expressed his disappointment.
“Why would I be happy that he lost, I hadn’t fought him yet,” Usman responded to Henry Cejudo during a recent episode of their podcast.
“Me and him weren’t the best of friends, I’ll tell you that for sure, but that doesn’t mean that I’m happy that he lost.
“We didn’t like each other, it was still something that people wanted to see, it was something on the cusp of potentially happening so no, I’m not excited that he lost,” Usman continued.
Usman believes Muhammad’s arrogance could’ve led to UFC 315 downfall
Ahead of the fight, Muhammad claimed that he wasn’t going to wrestle the Australian boxer, stating that he wanted to show off his ‘Canelo hands’ and showcase his striking.
Usman believes that Muhammad’s arrogance in wanting to show off his striking led to his downfall, claiming that he underestimated Della Maddalena’s heart.
“He was almost dismissive… (Della Maddalena) looked like the defending champion… I felt like (Muhammad) just, I don’t want to say there was an arrogance, but it was almost like, just smirk and shrug it off… He wasn’t level changing and wasn’t really trying,” Usman continued.
Despite Muhammad losing his title, a fight between he and Usman could still come to fruition later this year, no matter the result of Usman’s upcoming fight against Joaquin Buckley.