Kamaru Usman ready for title fight against Tyron Woodley
Following his win over Rafael dos Anjos at the TUF 28 Finale, Kamaru Usman has made it known that he’s ready for a title shot if the UFC is willing to give him one. Usman came out with an unanimous decision win over dos Anjos and it was a performance that impressed UFC President Dana White so much that White said in the post-event interview with Fox Sports 1 that he thinks he might be looking at Usman vs Woodley next for the welterweight title.
In his interview with the FS1 crew, White said that he was extremely impressed with Usman and due to the latest with Colby Covington, Usman may jump ahead for the next title shot.
“I was impressed and I’m telling you, I want to see him fight Woodley now. That’s what I want, but we will see. I’m one of these guys, I always like if you just fought and you came off a great performance against a stud, I’m looking at you. Covington hasn’t fought in a while, he got injured, he didn’t defend his title, all that stuff. Listen, in one fight Usman, I used to talk a lot of smack about this guy, but he turned me around with one fight and now I want to see the Woodley fight.”
Following the praise he received from Dana White, Usman spoke about his willingness to fight Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title, if that’s what the UFC wanted to do next. During his appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Usman opened up about his next potential fight coming against either Covington or Woodley.
Usman told Helwani that he has accepted a fight against Covington multiple times but the former interim champion has been ducking him.
.@USMAN84kg says that he spent a long time wanting a fight with @ColbyCovMMA. Says he’s accepted a fight against Covington four different times but Colby is ducking him. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) December 3, 2018
Usman would go on to say that while him and Woodley don’t have any beef, he’s willing to fight for the title next if the opportunity presents itself. As for the possible fight, Usman added that he’d be ready to go “next week” if the UFC needed him to fight either Woodley or Covington.
.@USMAN84kg says that he & @TWooodley “are cool” but he’s willing to fight him because he wants to become @ufc champion. Thinks a win over Woodley means more but he’d rather “beat up” @ColbyCovMMA because he dislikes him. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) December 3, 2018
.@USMAN84kg says he’d be ready “next week” to fight @ColbyCovMMA or @TWooodley. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) December 3, 2018
With a willingness and readiness to fight either fighter, Usman shut down any possible idea that he would be an alternate for a title fight between Covington and Woodley.
.@USMAN84kg on if he’d be willing to be an alternate for @ColbyCovMMA vs. @TWooodley: “Fuck that. No chance in hell”. Feels he’s earned a true title shot at this point. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) December 3, 2018
Following his big win, it’s clear that Dana White and the UFC may get behind Usman and grant him the next title shot against Tyron Woodley, and that’s a fight that “The Nigerian Nightmare” is ready for.
