Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman lastly turned victorious for the primary time since November 2021.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ battled Joaquin Buckley all through all 5 rounds to win by unanimous determination in the primary occasion of UFC Atlanta.
The Auchi-born fighter expressed his ideas in the course of the post-fight interview, proving that he can nonetheless battle on the high degree of the Welterweight division.
“It’s been some time,” mentioned Usman. “I do know I’m nonetheless in a position to do that on the highest degree.”
“Typically if you’re going up towards a younger, hungry man like that, [Joaquin Buckley] very gifted, very aggressive, you’ve obtained to drag out the abilities and use the expertise and that’s what I did tonight.”
Usman maintained his place within the high 5 of the Welterweight rankings, nevertheless it does depart followers considering what may very well be subsequent for the Nigerian.
Usman’s subsequent opponent
After snapping his three-fight dropping streak, the #5 170-pound contender has some choices to contemplate in his subsequent battle.
With two of his three UFC losses being for the Welterweight title, Usman solely appears to be yet one more battle away from getting into title competition once more, however who will he face subsequent?
Belal Muhammad
Muhammad has just lately misplaced the Welterweight title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, and now that he’s the #1 contender, it might be an ideal matchup for the ONX Sports activities fighter.
The matchup appears good, as each are gifted wrestlers in MMA, whereas having arguably probably the most underrated placing within the division.
Muhammad is open to the potential battle because the winner will likely be assured a chance on the Welterweight Championship subsequent.
Sean Brady
The #2 Welterweight contender entered title competition when he defeated Leon Edwards in enemy territory by fourth-round submission at UFC London.
Usman has fought Edwards 3 times, defeating him early on of their UFC careers, however misplaced to him twice at UFC 278 and UFC 286 for the Welterweight belt.
Brady has solely misplaced as soon as in his MMA profession, which might make him a difficult opponent for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ as he’s on a three-fight profitable streak as properly.
Identical to Usman, Brady has unimaginable wrestling in addition to showstopping BJJ, which might put the previous champion as much as the check in a potential future bout.
Shavkat Rakhmonov
Arguably, the 38-year-old’s hardest check may very well be the undefeated Kazakhstan fighter who has blazed by way of the rankings at 170 kilos.
Rakhmonov has stopped 18 of his 19 conquered opponents, with solely his final battle going the gap as he defeated Ian Machado Garry by unanimous determination at UFC 310.
‘Nomad’ has been extra of a submission risk within the UFC however has brought about issues on the ft as properly, which is why this may very well be Usman’s greatest title assertion victory, if he’s profitable.
The chance of this battle occurring could also be uncommon, because the #3 contender has been centered solely on the 170-pound title since December, hoping to face the winner of Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev.
What else occurred at UFC Atlanta?
Within the co-main occasion, Rose Namajunas picked up a unanimous determination win towards Miranda Maverick to maintain her spot within the Flyweight rankings at #7.
Edmen Shahbazyan, Raoni Barcelos and Alonzo Menifield all claimed unanimous determination triumphs as properly to extend their profitable streaks.
Mansur Abdul-Malik was additionally victorious, however by technical determination after a conflict of heads with Cody Brundage pressured the bout to finish and go to the judges’ scorecards.
The featured prelim, between Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato, resulted in a No Contest after an unlawful upkick from Craig supposedly knocked out the Brazilian, proper on the finish of spherical one.
Michael Chiesa elevated his profitable streak to 3 after a convincing unanimous determination win towards Courtroom McGee.
Ricky Simon and Jamie-Lyn Horth additionally claimed unanimous determination victories in somewhat dominant trend.
Philip Rowe, Jose Ochoa and Malcolm Wellmaker had been the one fighters to earn stoppage wins, all by knockout.
Rowe placed on an unimaginable comeback victory to defeat Ange Loosa late in spherical three after being knocked down himself.
Ochoa knocked out Cody Durden firstly of spherical two, defeating a former Flyweight contender and maybe the subsequent large prospect at 125 kilos.
Wellmaker arguably earned the most effective knockout of the night time when he stopped Kris Moutinho with a strong proper hook within the first spherical, making it his fourth consecutive triumph by KO/TKO.
