Kamaru Usman On Whether He Will Fight Islam Makhachev

Former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman (21-4-0) has doubts that a fight with the current champion Islam Makhachev happens.

Usman admitted that UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell is “not that interested” in the Makhachev matchup at this time, leaving the former champion at a crossroads. While Usman remains one of the greatest welterweights in history, his recent 1-3 record has allowed a new wave of contenders to leapfrog him in the title conversation. Michael Morales and Ian Machado Garry have become the frontrunners for Makhachev’s first defense. Although Makhachev has expressed a personal preference for the Usman fight, Usman revealed that the UFC has countered with an offer in the middleweight division against Dricus Du Plessis.

“For some reason, we’ve had conversations, but Hunter Campbell feels differently and Hunter Campbell is like, ‘Maybe not,’ he wants to go a different way. We don’t know yet. They haven’t come out and said Islam is going to get this guy or Islam’s going with me, but it’s been a tumultuous back and forth with getting that done. Other things were presented to me, like potentially ‘DDP’ was presented to me or other guys. Listen, there’s one thing about me, when they call and they say this guy or that guy or this guy, I don’t go, ‘Uh, maybe, maybe, maybe,’ no, I say yes,” Usman said