UFC welterweight champion and no.1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Kamaru Usman is already looking beyond UFC 278. He’s set to defend his title against Leon “Rocky” Edwards this weekend, who Usman claims he respects. However, in an interview with ESPN, Usman described his driving ambition: to be the greatest of all time. That means moving up to light heavyweight – 35 pounds above the welterweight limit of 170 – and capturing gold there, too.
“A lot of times nowadays, everyone’s throwing around this, ‘G.O.A.T., greatest of all time…’ That’s relative. For me, what I want, and this is kind of why I got into the sport. I’m just a competitive guy. I got into sports and I just realized it was something burning inside me that I wanted to compete and compete. I wanted to best that guy. This is the ultimate, mano a mano, the sport to do it.
Kamaru Usman Wants Light Heavyweight Gold Next: “I Want the Respect”
With that being said with respect to that, I want to be respected. So, when I get in there and I bested everyone, I want you to show me that respect. So, if I bested everyone in my division then I said I will skip one and I just want to prove to you — everyone says pound-for-pound, but that’s just kind of a scenario. You just throw that out, ‘If they were the same weight class, could this guy best that guy?’ And I want to prove that. I want to be able to do that. No one’s ever done it. If I can do that, hey, you put whatever title you want to put on it but ultimately I want the respect.”
Usman was complimentary of Leon Edwards, but offered some insight into his own mentality heading into this weekend’s main event. “There’s just something about Leon.
I respect him so much, he’s a great competitor, tough guy. He’s grinding through it. I’ve said it before, when I’m inside that octagon, I’m the judge, jury, and I will be the executioner.
When he said those things, boom. It stuck with me and it’s there to where I replay the whole first fight. Replay his attitude, his mood, his demeanor, and hey, he gave me a little shove in that first fight. I’m still not over it. And I don’t feel like I got enough in that first fight. There’s tons of motivation in this fight to go out there and do what I do.”
Can Kamaru Usman move up 35 pounds and challenge for the light heavyweight title? Let us know in the comments.
