Usman Calls For Title Shot

Kamaru Usman (21-4) says he wants a title shot if he defeats Dricus du Plessis (23-3) in Saturday’s five-round middleweight headliner at UFC Oklahoma City.

The 39-year-old former welterweight champion is returning to the middleweight division after earning a unanimous decision victory over Joaquin Buckley last June.

“Sean Strickland. I mean, that makes sense. That’s pretty easy. It’s either Sean Strickland or Islam, if Islam is still the champion, which I assume he will be,” Usman

Strickland (31-7) is the current UFC middleweight champion and does not have his next title defense booked, although a rematch with Khamzat Chimaev has been discussed. Makhachev (28-1), the UFC welterweight champion, will defend his title against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on August 15.

Usman previously defeated Strickland by unanimous decision in 2017 when both fighters competed at welterweight.

When asked whether his move to 185 pounds was motivated by an easier path to a championship opportunity, Usman denied that was the case.

“I wouldn’t say easier. I think it just fit. It just made sense. I obviously wanted the Islam fight… but unfortunately, in these things like this, the company kind of has a say. This one just made sense at this time, but it’s definitely not easy… guys like Jared Cannonier, Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho, all these guys are extremely tough,” Usman