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Makhachev put his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line for the first time against Ian Garry at UFC 330. While he retained his belt via unanimous decision, the Dagestani champion was pushed to the limit and had to dig deep. After his second welterweight bout, Usman claims he can beat Makhachev if they were matched up.
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Kamaru Usman backs his style against Islam Makhachev after UFC 330
While Usman acknowledges the new crop of contenders at welterweight, the former champ believes he remains a serious threat to Makhachev.
“There are really good guys coming up that are going to turn into killers,” Usman said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. “But right now, being honest with you, with all the styles that I see and the MMA mathematics… How it works out, I felt that, hey, styles make fights, I’m telling you guys, I can get that done.”
Usman was rallying for a title shot against Makhachev when the latter dethroned Jack Della Maddalena last November. Even Makhachev acknowledged “The Nigerian Nightmare” as his biggest threat at the time. However, Usman’s lengthy Octagon hiatus saw contenders like Garry, Carlos Prates and Michael Morales overtake him in the pecking order at 170 pounds.
Usman (21-5) lost his welterweight title in a shock knockout upset to Leon Edwards in 2022 and lost the rematch the following year. Usman then suffered a hard-fought majority-decision loss in a middleweight bout against Khamzat Chimaev.
The former champ then dropped back to welterweight and returned after a 20-month hiatus to beat Joaquin Buckley last year. After unsuccessfully rallying for a title shot against Makhachev, Usman moved back up to middleweight and suffered a unanimous decision loss against Dricus Du Plessis.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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