UFC president Dana White believes Kamaru Usman is the greatest welterweight in the promotion’s history.
The body of work put forward by Kamaru Usman has been pretty incredible up to this point. He’s been the UFC welterweight champion for over three years and in that time, he’s successfully defended the strap on five separate occasions.
His wins over the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington will live on forever and at the age of 35, there’s still every chance that he could hold the belt for as long as he remains an active competitor in mixed martial arts.
Of course, a few other fighters are in the running when it comes to being dubbed the welterweight GOAT, with the most obvious contender being Georges St-Pierre.
GSP is a two-weight UFC champion, he defended the belt nine times, and he’s one of the few fighters that is always shortlisted in the wider ‘greatest of all time’ discussion.
Dana White, however, recently suggested that Usman is number one with a bullet.
“Leon Edwards is the number one guy in the world to take on Usman,” White said. “He’s a super talented guy, that whole division is stacked with incredible talent. That’s why it’s undeniable that Usman is the greatest welterweight ever.
He’s lapping guys that are incredible fighters, this isn’t like some lacklustre division where you got Usman and everybody else, just straight killers in this division. We’ll find out that night what Edwards brings in here.
“It’s easier to get there than it is to stay on top. That’s why it’s so impressive when you have people like Valentina Shevchenko and Kamaru Usman that go on these runs.”
Proving the point
Usman’s star power has never been greater and at UFC 278, he’ll get the chance to prove once and for all that he deserves to be recognised and appreciated alongside GSP.
On that night in Utah, he’ll meet Leon Edwards for the second time as the Brit attempts to finally achieve his lifelong goal of becoming world champion.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is the clear favourite in the eyes of the masses and it isn’t hard to understand why, but his big problem is going to be avoiding complacency.
Edwards is younger, he’s just as hungry and he’s waited a long time for this opportunity, meaning Usman can’t afford to let his guard down for even a second.