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Talking exclusively with Sportbladet, Kamaru Usman is sure of one thing - history won't repeat itself
"He (Edwards) pulled a 'Hail Mary' and it worked. It was like one in a million. But watch the fight in its entirety - people left and turned off the TV because I dominated so hard” Usman says.
What was it like, waking up and realizing that you lost the title?
"There and then you don't know what is going on. When I woke up, I just thought "Damn!". But that's the thing, I feel like everyone expected me to be heartbroken, sad and crying. But no, I'm a competitor,
it's what we do. I've been competing since I was ten or twelve years old in sports, and that's what you do. You win some, you lose some."
Khamzat Chimaev said "He was like, ‘I’m gonna fight with Canelo’ and all these things and then got shot. He wasn’t focused, and had said ‘I’m always focused’. I don’t think he’ll be the same guy again.
Because now you know you’re human, as well”... so what's your response to that statement?
"Yeah, I mean, I think that's a... I guess a fair assesment because that's what most people are used to. That's what most humans are used to. When something tragic like that, trauma happens, they expect the person to not be the same, and that's what we see in most cases with ordinary people. You know regular people - and I'm extraordinary. I'm not regular, so you know, it's my job to go out and show them that
'I'm not the same as you'. I'm different. And this is what makes me great. My ability to stumble, maybe fall, but I always get back up and prevail."
Obviously, you're focused on Leon now, but speaking of Chimaev: Would you like to fight him?
"I would have loved to, you know. But from what I hear, he's not gonna make it down to welterweight anytime soon so. That's unfortunate, but if he somehow does, you know as a champion and with
a few fights left, I would love to have that being another title defense."
Could you imagine moving up to middleweight or does Chimaev have to go down?
"We'll see, it depends. Everyone knows I'm out of challengers here in the welterweight division, as I now have beaten them all. If I take the belt back, I'd have to sit down with my team and discuss the future.
We are smart and honest with ourselves. I will not do this forever. If it's time to move up, we'll do it, but Adesanya will fight in April and try to take back the title and, as I've said before, I'm not going to challenge him."
It's been a long time since we had a big UFC event in Sweden. In the near future, would you consider facing off with Chimaev in, for example, Stockholm?
"I would love to! I think your last time with a major event was between Alexander Gustafsson and my big brother and former teammate - rest in peace - Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson. It was a stadium show and I believe we can do that! I would love to do that. I think that's like the one thing left in my career that I haven't done, to have a stadium show. Had this one (against Leon Edwards) been in the summer, it would probably have been one. But you know, I would have loved to do this."
Source: https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/15rd3J/ufc-kamaru-usman-oppnar-for-att-mota-khamzat-chimaev
"He (Edwards) pulled a 'Hail Mary' and it worked. It was like one in a million. But watch the fight in its entirety - people left and turned off the TV because I dominated so hard” Usman says.
What was it like, waking up and realizing that you lost the title?
"There and then you don't know what is going on. When I woke up, I just thought "Damn!". But that's the thing, I feel like everyone expected me to be heartbroken, sad and crying. But no, I'm a competitor,
it's what we do. I've been competing since I was ten or twelve years old in sports, and that's what you do. You win some, you lose some."
Khamzat Chimaev said "He was like, ‘I’m gonna fight with Canelo’ and all these things and then got shot. He wasn’t focused, and had said ‘I’m always focused’. I don’t think he’ll be the same guy again.
Because now you know you’re human, as well”... so what's your response to that statement?
"Yeah, I mean, I think that's a... I guess a fair assesment because that's what most people are used to. That's what most humans are used to. When something tragic like that, trauma happens, they expect the person to not be the same, and that's what we see in most cases with ordinary people. You know regular people - and I'm extraordinary. I'm not regular, so you know, it's my job to go out and show them that
'I'm not the same as you'. I'm different. And this is what makes me great. My ability to stumble, maybe fall, but I always get back up and prevail."
Obviously, you're focused on Leon now, but speaking of Chimaev: Would you like to fight him?
"I would have loved to, you know. But from what I hear, he's not gonna make it down to welterweight anytime soon so. That's unfortunate, but if he somehow does, you know as a champion and with
a few fights left, I would love to have that being another title defense."
Could you imagine moving up to middleweight or does Chimaev have to go down?
"We'll see, it depends. Everyone knows I'm out of challengers here in the welterweight division, as I now have beaten them all. If I take the belt back, I'd have to sit down with my team and discuss the future.
We are smart and honest with ourselves. I will not do this forever. If it's time to move up, we'll do it, but Adesanya will fight in April and try to take back the title and, as I've said before, I'm not going to challenge him."
It's been a long time since we had a big UFC event in Sweden. In the near future, would you consider facing off with Chimaev in, for example, Stockholm?
"I would love to! I think your last time with a major event was between Alexander Gustafsson and my big brother and former teammate - rest in peace - Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson. It was a stadium show and I believe we can do that! I would love to do that. I think that's like the one thing left in my career that I haven't done, to have a stadium show. Had this one (against Leon Edwards) been in the summer, it would probably have been one. But you know, I would have loved to do this."
Source: https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/15rd3J/ufc-kamaru-usman-oppnar-for-att-mota-khamzat-chimaev
