Kamaru Usman has a riposte for fans hitting out at him online for not accepting a short notice bout with unbeaten welterweight challenger Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Usman was among the names bandied about as potentially stepping in to fight the Kazakh finisher after 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad was forced to withdraw from a scheduled title defence after sustaining a foot injury in his preparation. And while (the also unbeaten) Ian Machado Garry was ultimately drafted into the UFC 310 co-main event, Usman was targeted by some fights fans online for not stepping in — despite doing so on short notice against Khamzat Chimaev last year.
And speaking on the Pound4Pound podcast he co-hosts alongside Henry Cejduo, as noted by MMA Fighting, Usman didn’t mince his words when assessing the fight — and the vitriol of the fans.
“This is an intriguing fight,” Usman said of the Rakhmonov vs. Machado Garry contest. “This is a fight that I was potentially going to slide into. I’ve touched on this a million times, which is crazy to me because I’m seeing online people like, ‘Aw, you scared? You ducking? You ducking? You scared? You scared?’ What?
“I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ This is the same sentiment that I feel like people are doing to Jon Jones,” Usman added.
“It’s just like when people, where you’re fans or fans of a fighter don’t get their desired wish that they want, ‘That’s the fight I want,’ then it’s like, ‘That guy must be scared because he didn’t take the fight.’ Like, guys, shut up. Shut up. We step in there each and every time — I have 22 or 25 fights, I don’t know how many fights, but you think everyone, ‘Oh, you scared.’ World champion and defending belts time and time again, ‘Oh, he’s scared.’ Shut up. Just because you didn’t get what you wanted. Guess what, it’s like your mom telling you, ‘No, you can’t have that toy today.’ So shut your mouth.”
That said, though, Usman is forecasting a difficult night at the office for Machado Garry.
“Honestly, putting on my professional hat, I can see a world where Ian Garry gets this one done, but I don’t really care much for both guys so I don’t really care,” he explained. “I’m not picking. Whoever it is, at some point I’m going to have to see and I’m going to have to do what I do, but I don’t really care. But I can see a world where Ian gets it done. Shavkat is very good and very dangerous, but I can see a world where Ian gets it done.
“I’m not hating in any way, shape, form, or fashion, I love the fight on paper, but I don’t think it’s going to be as exciting as people think,” Usman said. “People are expecting blood and this and that. I don’t think it’s going to be that because Ian Garry is a smart fighter that’s willing to just dance around for 30 minutes. He’s going to dance around. He’s willing to do that in order to crate the space that he wants in order to try to land his strikes.
“Shavkat, not necessarily. Shavkat’s going to play the game with you for a little bit, but Shavkat at some point is going to want to get going, so if Ian doesn’t want to get going, we know it takes two to tango. If Ian doesn’t want to get going, that fight might not be the bloodbath that everybody’s expecting, everybody’s craving and going ‘ooh aah,’ but on paper I think it’s a fantastic fight and somebody’s O has got to go.”
