Kamaru Usman has let rip at the people criticizing his decision to not fight at UFC 310.
Dana White’s final pay-per-view show of the year was originally supposed to be headlined by a welterweight title clash between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
However, Muhammad withdrew from the fight after suffering a bone infection that left one of his toes badly swollen ahead of what was supposed to be his first title defense.
Rakhmonov immediately expressed his desire to remain on the December 7 card and the powers at be began looking for a new opponent for him to face at UFC 310.
Kamaru Usman tells his haters to ‘shut up’
Kamaru Usman initially offered to step in on short notice against Rakhmonov after previously doing the same thing for a fight with Khamzat Chimaev last year.
The former 170lb champion later pulled himself out of the running as he publicly admitted that the card in Las Vegas had come ‘too soon’ for him to be fight-ready.
Ever since it appears Usman has been getting some flack from UFC fans.
So much so, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ felt compelled to address them during the latest episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast he shares with former dual-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
Usman said: “I’m seeing online people going, ‘Oh, are you scared? You ducked him. You scared?’
“What?! This is the same sentiment that I feel like people are doing to Jon Jones. When fans of a fighter don’t get their desired wish that they want, ‘That’s the fight I want’, then it’s like, ‘Oh, that guy must be scared because he didn’t take the fight’. Guys, shut up. Shut up!
“‘Oh, he’s scared’. Yeah, okay. World champion, I’ve defended belts time and time again. ‘Oh, he’s scared’. Shut up! Just ‘cause you didn’t get what you wanted.
“Guess what? It’s like your mom telling you, ‘No, you can’t have that today. You can’t have that toy, shut your mouth’.
“Instead, we’ve got a banging fight. We’ve got Shavkat Rakhmonov taking on Ian Garry.”
What’s next for Kamaru Usman?
Kamaru Usman hasn’t fought since suffering a majority decision defeat to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in October 2023.
The defeat stretched his losing streak to three in a row after back-to-back losses against Leon Edwards.
At 37 years old, Usman appears to be coming to the end of his legendary career in MMA. Still, he’s ranked at #2 in the welterweight division and potentially just one win away from earning a shot at the belt he held for three years.
Edwards is the only welterweight contender ranked ahead of him, but a fourth fight between the pair seems unlikely.
Other options include Sean Brady, Jack Della Maddalena, or the loser of Rakhmanov vs Garry.
It’s all up in the air with just one thing certain right now. Usman isn’t done yet and the fans criticizing him right now will be watching him fight in the Octagon at some point in 2025.
