Khamzat Chimaev's aura of invincibility did not quite live up to Kamaru Usman's expectations.
Usman came on short notice for less than 10 days and faced Chimaev in a middleweight bout at UFC 294 last October. Despite a difficult first round, Usman put up a comeback effort but ultimately fell short, losing by majority decision.
Former welterweight champion Usman looked back on his fight with undefeated Chimaev, noting that greater confidence may have tilted the fight in his favor.
On the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Henry Cejudo, Usman said:
“When you get into those types of fights and positions, something builds up in your heart and in your head. is what makes him.
“Then you get on set and say, 'It wasn't anything special.' There was nothing that I didn't see. If I had given a little more, if I had praised myself a little more, it would have been completely different.” That would have been the result.”
In the first round, Usman was taken down by Chimaev and found himself in a precarious position. Nevertheless, as the fight progressed, he managed to evade Chimaev's grapples and even gained the upper hand in some exchanges of blows. Unfortunately for Usman, his efforts were not enough to sway the judge in his favor.
“We went out there and right away he made a shot and I was like, 'Oh, shit.' “It was a little bigger than I expected, but nothing special. Being on top, I thought, “This blow won't hurt that much.” Not particularly. '
“Then I stood up and that was the first punch I threw at him. I thought, 'Oh, I get it.'” I can do that. 'But it was after the battle, in my head I thought, 'Why?' Why did I doubt myself? Please don't do that again. ”
Chimaev quickly retorted, reminding Usman of the flow of the fight.
https://x.com/KChimaev/status/1768511206330114246?s=20
Usman can be seen discussing the matter with Cejudo in the video below.
