UFC president Dana White has admitted that he thought Mohammed Usman’s fight last weekend was ‘terrible’ until he landed the knockout shot.

Last Saturday night at the UFC Apex, Mohammed Usman went head to head with Zac Pauga in the heavyweight final of The Ultimate Fighter. ‘The Motor’ came into the contest as an underdog with many believing Pauga had the tools necessary to not only neutralise him but to make a statement and win a contract with the promotion.

In the end, though, it was the 33-year-old Usman who put the heavyweight division on notice with a nasty KO that left Pauga unconscious on the canvas for several minutes.

Usman celebrated with his friends, coaches and family members, even giving an emotional post-fight speech that highlighted just how grateful he was to be there.

One thing that many fans won’t remember about the fight in the years to come is that the first round, all things considered, wasn’t particularly inspiring.

Both men were quite trepidatious about running into the line of fire and the bout felt conservative as a result.

A lot of fans and pundits took note of that, including Dana White, as he mentioned during his post-fight press conference.

“The fight was sucking right up until that knockout. That was not the best fight you’re ever gonna see in your life. But, boy did he turn that around.

“It went from going oh my god this fight is terrible to god damn that’s one of the most vicious knockouts I’ve ever seen. So, yeah, congratulations, he looked good.”

The Usman legacy

Mohammed Usman’s older brother Kamaru was there in his corner over the weekend and you could see just how proud he was to see Mohammed capture the TUF crown, as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had done on his own season.

The next step for the newcomer will be to try and break into the top 15, whereas Kamaru has a big test of his own on the horizon.

In less than two weeks at UFC 278, the UFC welterweight champion will defend his crown against top contender Leon Edwards.

If he wins and does so convincingly, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll shoot back to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.