"I ain't gonna be eating for a while if I don't tap" - Kamaru Usman on why he decided to tap out in his only professional MMA loss

Kamaru Usman is regarded as the current No.1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, but he does not have an unblemished record.

On episode 45 of I Am Athlete, Usman talked in-depth about losing his sophomore mixed martial arts contest and what the overall experience was like.

When mentioning a pre-fight meeting with the Florida commission about how fighters would be suspended for six months if choked unconscious, Kamaru Usman said:

"I ain't gonna be eating for a while if I don't tap right now. There's no way. I have no idea how to defend myself right now... I don't regret it because I'm broke. I'm broke-broke. But at the end of the day, of course I would like to be undefeated in my career. But it's true what they say: you learn more from your losses than your wins."

Usman continued:

"In my head I was like, I'm never going to let that happen again. When I got done, I was so embarrassed I hid for a week... My girl at the time had come to watch me fight. So I just got beat in front of my girl... After a loss, I'm walking down the street — I don't care who it is. It's an old lady at the edge of the street, she knew I got my a** whooped. In your mind, you feel?"

Kamaru Usman lost to Jose Caceres at CFA11 in May 2013 by way of a rear-naked choke at the 3:47 mark of the first round.

Watch the interview/ video below:

---

Kamaru Usman's MMA path since defeat

Since that lone blemish on his mixed martial arts resume, Usman has put together a 19-fight winning streak (21 if you count his exhibition fights en route to becoming champion of The Ultimate Fighter Season 21).

Kamaru Usman captured the UFC welterweight belt from Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in March 2019 and has put together five successful title defenses since capturing gold. He put together a pair of wins over both Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington, with a victory over Gilbert Burns sandwiched in the middle.

Usman next readies to defend his hardware versus familiar foe Leon Edwards at UFC 278. Edwards will look to even up his series with Usman in this August 20 rematch and make good on his first ever bid for UFC hardware. Usman previously beat Edwards in the former's sophomore UFC bout in December 2015 by way of unanimous decision.