Kamaru Usman has made it clear he wants to be active this year and is hoping to return this summer.
After Usman scored a violent KO win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, he said he wanted to return in June. Yet, that is highly unlikely now, but Usman said he will be paying attention to that card as if Nate Diaz wins, he believes that could be the next fight.
“I think [UFC 263] is an important night for these fights to play out,” Usman said to ESPN. “Yes, I do want to see how those play out. If Leon looks spectacular, it would make sense. If Nate looks spectacular, that could make sense as well. With the whole Marvin situation, I don’t want to necessarily think about it, because I’m 100 percent behind Izzy on that. I think he can pull it out. But if there was ever a case where I would actually go up and challenge for that [second] belt, it would be without Izzy in the picture. So if Izzy isn’t the champ, it’s something we can take a look at.”
Although Dana White has said Colby Covington is next, Usman says that’s not his first choice. He doesn’t think “Chaos” has earned another title shot but isn’t opposed to fighting him.
“I’m not going to say I don’t want the fight,” Usman said. “I want all the smoke. It doesn’t matter who it is. I want all the smoke. At the end of the day, what has [Covington] done to earn this? Your claim to fame can’t be, ‘I went five rounds [against Usman in a title fight in 2019] and the guy broke my jaw and finished the fight.'”
Regardless of who is next, Kamaru Usman is hoping to be active this year and wants at least two more title defenses this year.
