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Kamaru Usman Is Thankful to Tyron Woodley for Their Title Bout
– MMAjunkie recently spoke to UFC welterweight title contender Kamaru Usman ahead of UFC 235. Usman is set to face champ Tyron Woodley for the belt next month at UFC 235. Below are some highlights from the interview. The upcoming fight is set for March 2 in Las Vegas.
Kamaru Usman on Tyron Woodley: “I’m thankful for Tyron. I know it’s not ultimately 100 percent his decision, because if he had his decision I wasn’t his first pick to fight. But, I’m thankful he went through with it and signed the contract because he did give me the opportunity I felt Georges robbed him of. Georges didn’t give him that opportunity and I feel like that’s part of why Tyron deals with the disrespect he deals with as champion. I do believe sometimes he shoots himself in the foot at times for sure, but he deals with a lot more than a lot of the other champions because people feel he didn’t beat the champion of the previous time.”
Kamaru Usman on Woodley calling himself the top of the heap: “I think it’s kind of weak sauce. I remember when he started saying, ‘I’m the greatest welterweight of all-time.’ I always felt kind of cringy about that. You don’t classify yourself the greatest welterweight of all-time. That’s not how this works. You’re made that by the people who watch your fights and the fans. They tell you that you’re the greatest of all-time. You don’t ordain yourself that. That’s like a new fighter coming in and saying, ‘I’m the best fighter in the world.’ You don’t know. That’s not how it works. The world tells you that, your audience tells you that.
Kamaru Usman on how Woodley made him cringe: “When he said that it was a bit cringe for me, like, why would you say that? That’s not your job to dictate whether you’re the greatest of all-time. For me, I never worry about, ‘Oh, I want to be the greatest.’ As long as I do my job and continue to win these fights, that’s how you break records, that’s how you make milestones and set new records. I’m not worried about that legacy stuff. It comes later once it’s set and done.”
Usman on wanting to be an active champ: “I definitely want to be an active champion because if you’re not fighting, you’re not making money. The biggest thing is there’s a huge difference between being the challenger and the champion. That’s what I want. The more I continue to fight as champion the more I have reach and pay and everything goes into it. After this fight I have some things I need to get fixed and worked on. I may take a short break, maybe a month. But I want to keep active and keep knocking these fights out as fast as possible because that’s how you prove your legacy.”