Kamaru Usman has expressed skepticism over a touted welterweight title fight with pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev as he suggested that UFC matchmakers are looking another way.
Former champion Usman (21-4, 9 KOs) has been vying for a shot at Makhachev since the Dagestani dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to become a two-weight champion at UFC 322.
Makhachev (28-1, 5 KOs) has openly favoured the Usman challenge, branding him as the “biggest name in welterweight” and that the Nigerian would be “the hardest fight for me”.
The fact that both fighters are managed by Ali Abdelaziz also meant there likely wouldn’t be too many behind-the-scenes obstacles in getting the match booked, but Usman has now cast doubt over the bout.
“Right now, honestly, I really don’t know,” Usman said, speaking on the situation surrounding a rumoured title clash.
“The Islam fight was obviously what I wanted and what I felt would’ve been great, not just for me, not just for Islam, but would’ve been great for the company, would’ve been great for the world to see that.
“Listen, people count me out day in and day out. The one thing that I know for a fact I am is I’m honest with my abilities. I’m honest with the people. When I come out here and I tell you ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that’, I honestly mean it.
“I’m not like some of these guys who go, ‘yes, I’m going to kill this guy, he won’t last one round’ and the fight is a boring three round. Or this guy, ‘I am going to finish him second round’ and the fight’s a boring three round.
“Like it is what it is. I’m honest about that and so when I say I can still do this at that high level, I mean that. For some reason… we’ve had conversations, but Hunter Campbell feels differently and Hunter Campbell’s like, ‘ah, maybe not’.
“He wants to go a different way. We don’t know yet. They haven’t come out and said, ‘okay, Islam is going to get this guy, or Islam’s going with me’. But it’s been a tumultuous back and forth with getting that done.”
Usman, at the back-end of his career, is not on the most formidable run compared to some of his contenders at 170lbs. He is coming off the back of a decision win over Joaquin Buckley last June, although that followed a three-fight losing streak which started when he lost his title in stunning fashion to Briton Leon Edwards at UFC 278.
He nevertheless remains one of the division’s all-time greats, staging a reign of terror as welterweight king between 2019 and 2022, during which he defeated the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns across his five successful title defences.
Makhachev, meanwhile, has looked unbeatable at the UFC’s pinnacle, with his last and only previous professional loss coming over 10 years ago.
He is one of only 11 double champions in UFC history, previously steamrolling Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski, Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano in a dominant run with the lightweight belt.
Makhachev relinquished his lightweight crown in May last year and has already conquered the next weight class up, with his first welterweight title defence yet to be confirmed.
