Kamaru Usman is still contemplating his next move.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion hasn’t won a fight since his Colby Covington rematch in November 2021. Usman scored the unanimous decision victory against his rival and has lost three in a row for the first and only time in his 24-fight career (20-4).
Two of Usman’s three latest losses came against the current Welterweight kingpin, Leon Edwards, leaving him in limbo within the 170-pound title picture. Therefore, it led the “Nigerian Nightmare” to Middleweight for a short-notice tilt opposite Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023, Despite his best efforts, Usman suffered a majority decision defeat in the three-round affair. Now, Usman has thought of a new possible match up after witnessing Dustin Poirierfall into a similar realm at UFC 302 this past weekend (June 1, 2024).
“He’s got fights. The [Alexander] Volkanovski fight could — that’s a fun fight,” Usman said on Pound 4 Pound. “I’m not in any way throwing my hat in, but [if] he wants to go up, hey, that’s a fun fight. I’m not saying I’m welcoming the fight, don’t do it. I’m not saying that, but I always put my mind there. If I was to ever compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one because it’s a guy that I could really respect through and through the process.
“It’s like you and your main training partner and you’re just like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to beat each other up. We’re going to push each other to the brink.’ That would be a fun fight, but I’m not throwing [my name in the] hat,” he concluded.
Poirier’s recent fifth round d’arce choke submission loss (watch highlights) to Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, came in his third-career attempt at becoming an undisputed UFC champion. At 35, Poirier is considering retirement as he ponders why he’d keep fighting.
Randy Brown really wanted to shine after earning a main card spot at UFC 302, but disaster struck before he ever really got going.
While the result still went his way with a unanimous decision victory over Elizeu Zaleski, Brown had much bigger plans in mind. He wanted to dazzle the New Jersey crowd with hopes that an impressive win earned him a top-15 ranking and step up in competition.
Instead, Brown ended up winning despite suffering a debilitating injury left him essentially fighting with one hand and one leg for the majority of the three-round affair.
“Unfortunately, I wanted to go out there and get him out of there, but obviously easier said than done,” Brown said Monday on The MMA Hour. “Tough vet. Of course, I break my foot about 1:10 [into the fight] and that just automatically kills all my weapons on the right side. No right hand. No back leg. I’ve got to beat him with one hand. Less movement. We made the adjustments and did what we have to do.
“So I’m not happy because I wanted a finish, I should have finished him, but it’s all good, we move forward.”
Brown said replays showed the exact moment his foot got shattered after throwing a kick that bounced off Zaleski’s elbow. He masked the injury during the fight, although he told his coach between rounds and they made the necessary adjustments moving forward.
“Watch the fight and put it at 3:50 of the first round,” Brown explained. “I throw a kick, a front kick that hit his elbow, and you hear it goes ‘pop!’ Destroyed my foot. I go from 100 to 50 and I’m fighting with one hand the whole time, because I can’t twist or nothing. The one time I did try to twist, I almost fell, and then I just had to stay on the one hand. But the caliber of fighter [I am], we make adjustments and we see it through.
“[When it happened,] I was just like, f*ck. In my head I was like, ‘Of course. That’s my luck. That’s Randy Brown luck right there.’”
Despite fighting with one foot for the majority of the bout, Brown still got the job done, putting himself on a three-fight UFC win streak.
As disappointed as he was with the performance, he can’t walk away totally dissatisfied with the result because things could’ve gone much worse for him given the circumstances.
“That’s what we do,” Brown said. “What can I say? That’s what we do. I can’t be happy. I’m happy, of course, I should celebrate the little things. I said that leading up to the fight. The press is always asking me that, ‘Bro, are you happy? Are you proud?’ Yeah, I am, but the work is not done. I’ve got so much more to do.
“That [win] was massive. That’s up there for me. Just based purely off the adversity, a broken foot, him having my back for a full three minutes and being able to come out of that and attempting to show him how it’s done. All of that. It’s up there. I rank it up there with some of my best performances. I know I could have been better. I’m telling you all, I was in top form but the adversity made it good. The fact that I showed I could get out of that and still make those adjustments as a [high] caliber fighter.”
Brown left the arena on Saturday with a walking boot on his foot and he expects to meet with doctors this week to see the extent of the damage. He’s hoping the injury only requires some rest to allow his foot to heal rather than being forced to go under the knife.
“Fingers crossed that it’s not surgery,” Brown said. “I want to keep this going, so I’ve got to get back in there. Fingers crossed that it’s not surgery, but we’ll see what happens.”
If all goes well and he recovers in time, Brown wants his return to happen in November when the UFC is expected to hold a card at Madison Square Garden in New York.
That’d give him a chance to fight close to home again as a New York-based athlete, and he’d love a shot at a ranked opponent. Following his win, Brown already had a name in mind for his next fight, however he’s not married to any one idea but rather anyone who allows him to progress in his career and move up those UFC welterweight rankings.
“Nothing’s malicious for me, this is all business,” Brown said. “I’m just making the moves that I need to make for me and mine. I feel like, yeah, he’s in a perfect position, everyone else is booked — me and Geoff Neal or even ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson].
“‘Wonderboy,’ Geoff Neal, these are good matchups. These are guys where I believe styles make fights and I think that I have a tremendous style to beat these dudes and take their spots. So I’m coming for whoever I can get.”
Linked with an impending return to the Octagon for the first time since late last year, former welterweight kingpin, Kamaru Usman may have turned down a grudge fight with Jan Blachowicz last week, however, has suggested a fantasy matchup with Dustin Poirier after UFC 302.
Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion, headlined UFC 302 over the course of the weekend in New Jersey, suffering an eventual fifth round submission loss to undisputed divisional champion, Islam Makhachev.
Finding himself on the receiving end of a spectacular ankle pick in the final round after turning in a valiant performance, Lafayette native, Poirier was forced to tap to a D’Arce choke – before eventually going unconscious.
And weighing up a potential – and admittedly likely retirement from combat sports following his third unsuccessful siege of the undisputed lightweight crown, Poirier was immediately offered one last rodeo by former featherweight titleholder, Alexander Volkanovski.
Kamaru Usman dreams up Dustin Poirier fantasy clash
However, insisting he is not throwing his name into the ring to face Poirier in his return, Auchi veteran, Usman has claimed a fight with the American Top Team star would be “fun” – claiming the two would push each other to their respective limits.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari – Zuffa LLC
“He’s (Dustin Poirier) got fights,” Kamaru Usman said on his Pound 4 Pound podcast. “The (Alexander) Volkanovski fight could – that’s a fun fight. I’m not in any way throwing my hat in, but [if] he wants to go up [to welterweight], don’t do it. I’m not saying that, but I always put my mind there. If I was to ever compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one because it’s a guy that I could really respect though and through the process.”
“It’s like you and your main training partner and you’re just like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to beat each other up.” Kamaru Usman explained. “‘We’re going to push each other to the brink.’ That would be a fun fight, but I’m not throwing [my name in the] hat.”
Who would win in a potential fight: Kamaru Usman or Dustin Poirier?
Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor face off | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Michael Chandler might be wasting his time waiting for Conor McGregor. At least, so says Demetrious Johnson.
Chandler is set to fight McGregor on June 29 in the main event of UFC 303. It’s a fight Chandler has been waiting on for 18 months, but over the weekend a curveball was thrown when the planned pre-fight press conference in Dublin on Monday was postponed last-minute, with little communication as to why. Speculation immediately turned to wondering if the fight is in jeopardy, and while Johnson believes the fight will ultimately happen, he also recognizes it’s possible Chandler has been waiting all this time for nothing.
“We’ll see. At the end of the day, that’s the shitty thing about this,” Johnson said on The MMA Hour. “If I was Chandler … as an athlete, you make your money when you compete. I can’t remember the last time Chandler competed. I don’t know if it was against Charles [Oliveira] or Dustin [Poirier] or Justin [Gaethje]. I just don’t know. It doesn’t ring a bell in my mind. So for me, he’s been sitting on the sidelines to wait and fight Conor McGregor, this might never happen.
“Conor could be like, [in a McGregor impersonation] ‘F*ck you guys! I don’t need your f*cking money! I don’t need none of you guys! I’m on a f*cking yacht!’ So that could potentially happen, and then it’s like Chandler waited all this time [for nothing]. Or it does happen. So that’s how I feel right now. I just feel like Chandler might be wasting his time.”
Chandler most recently competed at UFC 281 on November of 2022, losing by rear-naked choke to Dustin Poirier. After that fight, Chandler served as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter31 opposite McGregor, with the idea being the two would meet sometime in 2023. And while the fight was often rumored last year, it never actually got booked, with the goalposts continually being pushed back. All the while, Chandler kept waiting, in hopes of finally getting a fight he’s targeted since joining the UFC in 2020.
Now with the fight potentially up in the air, the question is whether Chandler will continue waiting for McGregor. At 38 years old, Chandler has already spent 18 months of the tail end of his career not competing, but as Johnson notes, the financial incentives of holding out for McGregor are quite compelling.
“It’s definitely the biggest payday of his career,” Johnson said. “I think we all can agree to that. I think it’s something like Dustin said, what is he fighting for? Does he want to be world champion or does he want that big mega-fight? That’s a decision for him to make. I can’t make that decision for him. What would I do? I don’t know his financial situation, so I don’t know.
“It’s tough. A mega-fight with Conor, you beat Conor, that just opens up so many more doors for you than if he was to beat a Justin Gaethje. The biggest star in the sport of MMA is Conor McGregor. We can all agree on that. Even though the motherf*cker doesn’t fight, at all, he’s still the biggest star.”
UFC 303 takes place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and caps of the UFC’s 2024 International Fight Week.
Dustin Poirier | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 302 is in the books and the lightweight champion has a name, and it’s still Islam Makhachev. The top pound-for-pound fighter in the world successfully defended his title against Dustin Poirier in a fight that was more competitive than many expected. Other than that, Sean Strickland won another split decision, this time over Paulo Costa in the most Sean Strickland fight of all-time, and honestly, that’s about it. On paper, 302 was a bit light in stakes, and the event itself has already been widely panned as one of the worst of the year.
So where do we go from here? To y’all’s questions, of course.
Dustin Poirier
You guys have talked around this topic on occasion, but where does Dustin rank amongst the greatest fighters never to win an undisputed belt in any organization. Personally, I have him top 5 with (not in any order) Sakuraba, Yoel, Cro Cop and Kid Yamamoto
— Dylan Barth (@dylaneb11) June 2, 2024
“Where does Dustin rank amongst the greatest fighters never to win an undisputed belt in any organization? Personally, I have him top 5 with (not in any order) Sakuraba, Yoel, Cro Cop and Kid Yamamoto.”
First off, terrific top five. Love the old-school bend. But the absence of Tony Ferguson is notable. I’m not even a big Tony fan, but the man has earned his spot. Same for Joseph Benavidez. And if we’re talking everyone, Megumi Fujii has a strong case as No. 1 overall, so she’s a miss. But let’s say we’re talking only about men. Rankings like this are always wildly subjective and fraught with complications, but I have Poirier as No. 3 all-time.
It’s a bit chalk, but I’m defaulting to Mirko Cro Cop as No. 1. Like Poirier, Cro Cop had the unfortunate timing of existing during the Fedor Emelianenko timeline, and so he never got to hold an undisputed title, but for two or three years there, he was the second-best heavyweight in the world, and his résumé is littered with excellence (a lot of trash as well, but everyone has that).
My No. 2 is Kazushi Sakuraba. “The Gracie Hunter” is a tricky customer to rank in stuff because he lost almost as much as he won, but we’re talking about a natural welterweight who just messed around and fought open-weight bouts against the best heavyweights and light heavyweights in the world. There’s a reason Sakuraba was your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter for ages and ages, and I’m giving him that respect.
So Poirier is No. 3, which ain’t half bad. And if you have him at No. 1, no issues with that. Really, there’s no wrong way to eat this Reese’s.
Then I round out my top 10 with Tony, Benavidez, Yoel, Kid, Cowboy, Mark Hunt, and Alexander Gustafsson. I think that’s my list, though it’s obviously leaving plenty of excellent fighters out of it.
Islam Makhachev
jed even though islam won do you think he got exposed by poirier
— joefrombayonne (@joefrombayonne) June 2, 2024
“Even though Islam won, do you think he got exposed by Poirier?
Oh, MMA. What a wonderful sport, where you can put on a complete performance against one of the best fighters of all-time, culminating in a championship finish, and have people saying you’ve been exposed. Now, to be fair, I’m not saying that’s what this person is saying, but the sentiment certainly was out there Saturday night. And to all of you who think that, you’re being quite silly.
The idea that Islam was going to walk through Poirier was always overly simplistic. Yes, Khabib Nurmagomedov did, but Islam and Khabib are not the same fighter. Poirier was always likely to give Islam a more difficult fight, and that’s without accounting for how incredible he looked on Saturday. Make no mistake, that was technically the best Poirier we’ve ever seen (though athletically he’s falling off). His defensive wrestling has never been better and his clinch work was outstanding. But in the end it didn’t matter, because he was fighting the best dude in the world.
Here’s the thing about being a champion: It’s hard. It’s so hard. It’s, like, the hardest. Winning a UFC title, particularly at lightweight, is an outrageous accomplishment. Defending that title is impossible.
Champions can’t have days off. They can’t dog it through a title fight. They can’t show up to work hungover and hope to skate by their meetings without anyone noticing, because if they try, it’s curtains. Every time a champion fights, they are taking on one of the very best fighters in the world, at the absolute peak of that fighter’s game. Challenger’s have spent their entire lives trying to get to that point and they’re going to give everything in them to actualize their dreams.
As a champion, you have to stop that, repel the invaders, time and again for as long as you can. It’s exhausting mentally, and even Islam said as much after the fight when he asked for a welterweight title shot because defending the belt doesn’t hit the same. He’s not the first champion to say that. Basically all of them do so, because it’s true. Defending a belt is the hardest thing to do. And so when Islam doesn’t meet the (foolish) expectations that he will annihilate Poirier, but still wins the fight authoritatively, I say to you that, no, he was not exposed. He just has an extremely difficult job.
Islam Pt. 2
Islam took risk in this fight, outgraple outstriked one of the best lightweights of all time what sre your thoughts?
— Alex Smile (@alex_7mile) June 2, 2024
“Islam took a risk in this fight, out-grappled and outstruck one of the best lightweight of all time. What are your thoughts?”
Carrying over from the first one, I wanted to add a few additional notes about the fight.
It rocked.
Yes, Makhachev struggled with the wrestling, but that’s a testament to Poirier and American Top Team working hard to mitigate that. Poirier was MUCH better about denying chain-wrestling opportunities to Makhachev than he was against Khabib, and as a result, he stayed upright more. Even still, Islam scored a takedown in every round and racked up 10 minutes of control time, much of that in dominant position. Poirier effectively stopped Islam’s Plan A, the champ just had Plans B, C, and D to fall back on.
Also, Islam continues to be show improvement as a striker. Not many people out there would think that he’s one of the best in the division, but it’s true. He has a cohesive kickboxing game that attacks all levels, in combination, and prioritizes defense first. Yes, the threat of grappling helps him, but this ain’t GLORY. That’s part of the game and he leverages it beautifully.
The thing that surprised me most was the clinch. Makhachev has historically been a terror in the clinches, but Poirier more than held his own there. Whenever Islam got his collar ties, Poirier went right to work pounding the body and then breaking grip so Makhachev couldn’t get knees off. I was very impressed by Dustin there.
And lastly, the leg whip to set up the final grappling exchange was dope. Islam had a weak single, knew Poirier was going to throw at his head, baited it, then whipped the leg, leading to headlock position and eventual brabo choke. Man is a beautiful technician and we’re privileged to watch him work.
Moving up
How frustrating is it to have UFC figure heads pander to keep the champchamp era? When do you think we will see this quest for undeserved simultaneous belts end?
— Zach Schultheis (@Zmschultheis1) June 2, 2024
“How frustrating is it to have UFC figure heads pander to keep the champchamp era? When do you think we will see this quest for undeserved simultaneous belts end?”
After the fight, Makhachev called for a shot at the welterweight title, and while there is a case for it (not a case I support, mind you, but a case) it seems unlikely that it will happen. UFC CEO Dana White, when he wasn’t demoting Islam as a fighter, basically acted like this was the first time he ever heard of Makhachev wanting to move up, which suggests he’s not into the idea. And while White is mostly wrong about everything, he’s correct with regard to this: Makhachev should not get a welterweight title shot.
I’m one of the most vocal opponents of the “champ-champ era” of MMA for a dozen reasons, but this is the most obvious one: The divisions have viable contenders that deserve their chance. Leon Edwards is about to defend against Belal Muhammad and then the winner of that MUST fight Shavkat Rakhmonov, or else what are we doing here? Along those lines, Arman Tsarukyan deserves his rematch with Makhachev. And then after that, both divisions have no shortage of contenders. Making others suffer and wait to fulfill the vain aspirations of your champions is silly and erodes the sporting aspect of MMA.
If Makhachev wants to get a welterweight title, I’m all for that. Pursue your ambitions. But vacate the lightweight strap to do so and get in line behind Shavkat.
Up next
How do you think Islam vs. Arman goes? The way I see it Islam probably has the better grappling – if not better at least the same and enough to nullify Arman’s control style. But the striking is so much better on Islam’s side. He just has so many more levers that he can pull.
— Greg Mansbach Sr. (@GregMansbach) June 3, 2024
“How do you think Islam vs. Arman goes?”
Ultimately, Islam is going to defend against Arman. He said he’s willing and the UFC isn’t going to give him a welterweight title shot. So sometime at the end of the year, or the next time the company goes to Abu Dhabi, that’ll be the fight.
And honestly, I think it’s a bad one for Arman. Previously I had doubts, but things crystalized for me ahead of 302 as I went back and watched tape. Arman is not Khabib Nurmagomedov, but there’s certainly some similarities to their games, and Islam’s game is basically the anti-Khabib. He functionally spent his entire life training against Khabib, and so he has tons of tools and tricks to work against that. It’s why Luke Rockhold was such an tricky counter-wrestler, because he couldn’t actively wrestle Daniel Cormier, so he developed stuff around that.
That’s not to say that I think Islam kills Tsarukyan. Just that he’ll probably win a competitive 25 minutes over him, where he edges out every round. Tsarukyan will rarely, if ever get takedowns, and while he’s a powerful striker, he lacks Islam’s craft and volume. And in the clinch I think Islam has a clear edge. So Tsarukyan will compete well, but he’s just a little behind in all phases, which is a tough spot.
Who can dethrone Islam?
Outside of immediate contenders like Arman, which up and coming lightweights do you feel present the greatest challenge to Islam should he still be champion in 18 months time? (Allowing for the Arman fight and a potential welterweight title shot in the meantime)
— Samuel Tromans (@SamuelJTromans) June 2, 2024
“Outside of immediate contenders like Arman, which up and coming lightweights do you feel present the greatest challenge to Islam should he still be champion in 18 months time?”
Honestly, nobody. It’s lightweight, so like, anything can happen in any fight. It’s not like anyone thought Adriano Martins would flat-line Islam like he did, so that’s always in play, but the current lightweight crop seems especially ill-suited to defeat Makhachev. The only person I’d give at least a realistic possibility to is Rafael Fiziev, and even then I think that’s more a “lose competitively” proposition.
Plus, Usman Nurmagomedov is looming. Sure, he’s not in the UFC, but I’m not sure how much longer that will be true. Usman is kind of like Islam v2.0. So what I’m saying is that for the foreseeable future, the lightweight title runs through Dagestan. Sucks to be a 155-pound fighter from anywhere else right now.
Sean Strickland
He’s a polarizing guy, but should Sean Strickland get more credit for being a champion/contender at 185 when he nearly lost his career to the patella dislocation/serious quad tear in his motorcycle accident 6 years ago?
He developed into this guy post injury which is insanity.
— Adrian (@hallelalaluwah1) June 2, 2024
“He’s a polarizing guy, but should Sean Strickland get more credit for being a champion/contender at 185 when he nearly lost his career to the patella dislocation/serious quad tear in his motorcycle accident 6 years ago?”
I mean, if you want to give him credit for that, go ahead. That’s not something I ever care much about though. Life happens to everyone, we just don’t hear about all of it.
But Strickland should get plenty of credit for being a champion and elite contender given where he started. If you asked people five years ago, very few would’ve predicted Strickland as champion. (Mike) Heck, if you asked people 18 months ago, they would’ve laughed at the possibility.
For Strickland to have this sort of career arc is a testament to him and his coaching, because it’s not like he is an undeniable talent. Strickland isn’t wildly athletic, he’s not a big finisher, and he’s not really a technical savant. But he’s defensively sound, has smart ideas, and he executes exactly what the game plan is every fight. Strickland didn’t get to where he is for any other reason than hard work and a good team, and we should always respect that.
Thanks for reading, and thank you for everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.
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