Kamaru Usman is the Nigerian Nightmare and is the current UFC welterweight champion.
In September of 2021, he was placed #1 in the UFC men’s pound for pound rankings.
He holds a total career record of 20-1-0 with his only loss coming via submission in his second ever professional bout. He’s never lost in the UFC, however, including some battles with huge stars such as Tyron Woodley (where he won the title), Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns.
Now, there’s seemingly a psychological battle between Usman and one Conor McGregor.
The Notorious has always had a way with words and tends to get inside the head of his opponents in the lead up to his fights, while Usman is much more likely to hold back and do his talking in the Octagon.
Though, the Nigerian has been noticed using certain lines in interviews which can be originally credited to McGregor.
When speaking to TMZ Sports, the Nigerian said: “I don’t see a face. There’s an opponent on the dotted line and I just do the best that I can on that night I step in there and I’m victorious.”
This can be linked to something McGregor said back in 2015 to MMAFighting before his fight with Denis Silver.
The Irishman explained: “The structure of the face becomes blurry almost. Eventually it just becomes blank, there is no eyes, there is no definition it’s just a blank face and a new body type.”
Another very noteworthy example would be when Usman said that it’s “green panty night” for opponents when they sign the contract to fight him. This is noticeable to when McGregor said a similar thing much earlier before his lightweight title fight with Rafael dos Anjos. The Irishman stated that his opponent would be celebrating the career-high payday with “red panty night” which Usman has clearly taken inspiration from.
This indirect conflict may well lead to an eventual clash between the Irishman and his Nigerian rival.
The two have never fought before and the mimicking could lead McGregor to fight for the first time since he lost to Dustin Poirier on July 11, 2021.