Kamaru Usman confident he will become UFC light heavyweight champion in future
Reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is confident he will jump up to light heavyweight and become champion in the future.
Kamaru Usman has done it all since joining the UFC, especially since becoming the undisputed welterweight champion back in 2019 with an unanimous decision victory over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235. Usman currently holds an undefeated tenure since joining the UFC back in 2015, where he also won The Ultimate Fighter Season 21, and now is preparing for another title defense. The champion will look to defend his title for the sixth consecutive time against Leon Edwards at UFC 278 next month.
The reigning and defending champion faced Edwards before becoming champion back in 2015, a fight in which Usman won by unanimous decision. Although much has changed in the last 7 years from their first meeting, Usman is laying down a legacy in which he is facing title challengers multiple times, as he’s defeated Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington twice in title fights, as well as Gilbert Burns once, and now he’ll face Edwards for the second time. In a division that has yet to see new contenders rise to the top,
Even as he prepares for another welterweight title fight, Kamaru Usman has set his sights on not only becoming a two-weight champion, but jumping up two weight classes in order to achieve that goal. With his friend Israel Adesanya reigning over the middleweight division, Usman revealed in an interview, he’s interested in moving up 35 pounds and going from 170 pounds to 205 pounds, with his eyes on the UFC’s light heavyweight title.
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Kamaru Usman explained that when he’s around other fighters, he feels a certain heat coming from them, a heat that is uncomfortable at times, but also heat that burns on him to push for a second title.
Usman is confident that the light heavyweight title will be his in the future 👀
(via @bokamotoespn) pic.twitter.com/xJY7SEptZH
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 12, 2022
“I’m more around guys like Charles Oliveira and I feel it, I feel that heat a little bit. I was at the fights two weekends ago and I’m sitting next to Jiri [Prochazka] and I feel the heat, Jiri’s not even looking at me. I’m like ‘Bro, we’re just here, having a good time.’ I feel the heat all the time. It is an uncomfortable feeling to be around, but it keeps you on your toes and it’s refreshing to not be doing that with Izzy. I like the fact that he’s a champion and he’s a great champion. Like I said and I meant it, I will skip that [division] and I will go to 205 and I will grab that belt.”
These comments from Usman come just a few weeks after he was captured on camera having an impromptu face-off with former light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz. There is work ahead to be done for Kamaru Usman as he prepares for his welterweight title fight against Leon Edwards, but if he retains his title once again, there could be a move up to light heavyweight in the near future.
