UFC president, Dana White, has praised former pound-for-pound number one Kamaru Usman as one of the most dominant champions in the welterweight division.
Usman won the welterweight title against Tyron Woodley in UFC 235 and only lost it at UFC 278 after defending the title five times.
However, the fans had a mixed opinion of Usman as a champion. They weren’t welcoming of him and constantly criticized him for various reasons. Now, UFC CEO Dana White showered flowers on The Nigerian Nightmare’s championship run.
In his recent appearance on Maxx Crosby’s podcast, Dana White praised the championship reign of Usman and stated that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ fought the toughest opponents, sometimes twice, and never turned down a fight.
“(Kamaru) Usman doesn’t get the credit he deserves. I don’t know what it is, the fans or whatever,” White said.
“I think Kamaru is gone then they would appreciate it. That guy never turned a fight. He fought everybody and started running through guys twice…Usman was a bad boy.”
White even mentioned Kamaru Usman fighting Colby Covington twice to prove he took the toughest fights. That was one of the intense rivalries in the welterweight division.
As such, Usman reigned as the champion for nearly three years and racked up five title defenses. He defended the title twice against Covington and Jorge Masvidal and once against Gilbert Burns.
However, the Nigerian-born fighter lost his championship to Leon Edwards in 2022. Further, he lost the rematch in an attempt to reclaim the 170lbs throne. He briefly moved up to middleweight to fight Khamzat Chimaev and lost that too.
