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Kamaru Usman has teased a move up to light heavyweight to challenge for the UFC 205 pound belt, and a lot of fans are doubting the pound-for-pound king can pull it off.
Usman raised eyebrows when he engaged in an intense staredown with former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz backstage at UFC 276. Explaining the moment to TMZ Sports, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' said:
"After Leon Edwards, we have our sights set on whether it’s Jan or whether it’s Jiří, whoever it is, that’s what we want. I want to prove to the world that there’s a reason why they say pound-for-pound. That means pound-for-pound at any given time, any given moment, any given weight, I can go in there and not only hold my own, I can be victorious. I wanna be able to prove that.”
Watch Kamaru Usman call for a light heavyweight title shot below:
Miesha Tate called on her Twitter followers to share their thoughts on Usman moving up to 205 pounds. Unsurprisingly, a lot of them didn't think it'd go well for the 20-1 champion.
It's unclear just how serious Usman is about moving up two weight classes, but it's just more evidence that the longtime welterweight champion is serious about chasing superfights that establish an undeniable legacy. Before it was with a fight against Canelo Alvarez. With that apparently out of the question, now he's looking at light heavyweight.
Kamaru Usman's manager believes he could "be the champion right now at light heavyweight"
Kamaru Usman's manager Ali Abdelaziz has been doing a good job of hyping is client up in interviews. Not only has Abdelaziz said Usman is the best welterweight, he's said he's the best at middleweight and could be champion at light heavyweight. He wrote:
"@USMAN84kg the best 170 lb 185 lb and he can be Champion right now at least heavyweight"
So why isn't Usman talking about moving up one weight class like most normal champions? It's because 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has no interest in fighting one of the other 'Three Kings,' the nickname that has been given to the three current African UFC Champions: Kamaru Usman, Israel Adesanya, and Francis Ngannou.
With Adesanya firmly holding onto the 185 pound belt, Usman will have to go one division further if he wants to add his name to the short list of UFC champ-champs.
