UFC – Kamaru Usman: Nate Diaz Will Dodge Me Like Conor McGregor Did
Kamaru Usman has hinted that he would like to defend his title against the winner of Leon Edwards vs Nate Diaz after he’s got past Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, but doesn’t think the younger Diaz brother would accept a fight with him.
Usman is gearing up to defend his welterweight title in a rematch with Masvidal in the UFC 261 main event on April 24th, while Edwards is set to welcome Diaz back inside the Octagon in the first ever non-title five-round co-main event in the promotion’s history at UFC 262 on May 15th.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is confident of getting past ‘Gamebred’, and is already weighing up potential opponents for his next title defence.
Leon Edwards Title Shot
Speaking to ESPN (as transcribed by MMA Fighting), Usman said that Edwards has grown leaps and bounds since losing to him in 2015, and it will be hard to deny him a title shot if he beats Diaz next month.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a funky one,” Usman said. “They just kind of threw that in there on us but I like it. I really like the fight. I think it’s something that Leon Edwards desperately needed because I recognise his skills and I recognise how hard he’s worked since taking that loss to me. He’s worked very, very hard, he’s improved his wrestling, this guy is taking guys down, he’s submitting guys, he’s going the distance, five rounds with guys and he’s looking great.
“So I respect everything that he has done up to this point but the one thing that’s been lacking is the fact that he just didn’t have that recognition. The casual fans, if you mention his name to them they’re like, ‘Who’s that?’ It sucks to say but that was the case so a fight like this is something that can give him that recognition. If he goes out there and does what I think he’s capable of doing, come that next week people will know who Leon Edwards is and he makes a strong case for himself. You can’t deny him at that point. Eight-fight win streak, with that fight it will probably be nine so yeah it’s tough to deny the man a title shot.”
Fighting Nate Diaz
Usman said that he is also down to fight Diaz if he wins, but expects the Stockton native to dodge him like Conor McGregor did previously.
“According to me? Absolutely,” Usman said. “You know me. I don’t shy away from any challenge. I’ll take on anybody. But according to him? I think that’s the second case to where a fighter just flat out says, ‘You know what? I don’t even want a title shot. I’m good.’
“I offered it to Conor when Conor was running his mouth that the third belt looked great to him and this and that and I said, ‘Yo, I’m here. I’m available. What date do you want to do it?’ But he was quiet. He didn’t respond. So that’s the first case where a guy was like, ‘You know what? I don’t want none of those problems. I don’t want to do it.’ And I think this will probably be the second case. If he was able to get that win, I think he will definitely be turning down that title shot.”
Whoever emerges as the number one contender in the stacked UFC welterweight division, Usman says he has some fun options in Diaz, Edwards, and Colby Covington.
“I want any fight and a fight like that (Diaz fight),” Usman said. “These are just fun fights for me. I’m starting to have fun with this, so these are just fun fights for me. Whether it’s Nate, whether it’s Leon, whether it’s Covington, they’re all fun fights for me now.”
Covington currently doesn’t have a fight booked, but is hoping to take on the winner of Usman vs Masvidal 2. Elsewhere, top-five contenders Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson are scheduled to compete at UFC 264 on July 10th, and are also hoping to fight for the title with a win.
Do you think Nate Diaz would turn down a title fight against Kamaru Usman, should they both come through their upcoming fights against Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal at UFC 262 and UFC 261?
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