5 reasons why Kamaru Usman should consider retiring from the UFC

#4. There are no new challenges on the horizon

Kamaru Usman appears to have run out of challengers at 170 lbs. Irrespective of who he has fought, Usman has dominated proceedings inside the octagon.

Colby Covington gave Kamaru Usman the hardest fight of his title reign at UFC 245, but ultimately fell short against 'The Nigerian Nightmare'. Usman has defended his title against Colby Covington (twice), Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns so far.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting ahead of his rematch against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, Usman mentioned how 'lapping' the other fighters has made him question how long he can continue doing this. He said:

“Being a realist and I’m honest with myself and I know that I can’t do this forever and I don’t want to do this forever. Like I said, we’re on a track right now, I’m just so far ahead of these guys that I’m coming back around and I’m lapping them now. So, talking to some of my mentors, and some of the greatest that have done this, what they’re telling me at some point it’s going to start, that waking up in the morning and going to the gym to put in a day’s work is going to start to get heavier and heavier when nothing really motivates me like that anymore."

Watch the full interview with Kamaru Usman below:

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#3. Moving up to the middleweight division isn't an option

The UFC has had its fair share of fighters achieving success in more than one division. Conor McGregor, Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier, amongst others, have all moved up a weight class and conquered two divisions to become champ-champs.

Even Georges St-Pierre achieved the distinction of becoming a two-division champion. 'Rush' vacated the welterweight championship belt after defending his title against Johny Hendricks in 2013. However, he returned four years later to become the UFC middleweight champion - dethroning Michael Bisping.

With weight cuts naturally becoming harder and harder with age, moving up to the middleweight division to fight for his second title could be a good option for Kamaru Usman. But that seems less unlikely given his friendship with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' made it clear that he has no intentions of fighting 'The Last Stylebender' in the middleweight division.

"I don't see myself ever fighting Israel... Having two belts in Nigeria is better than one guy holding two belts."

Watch the segment of the podcast below:

Usman, however, recently said that he's open to a fight with Adesanya but it won't come cheap. During an interview with ESPN MMA, Usman said:

“There's a difference between fighting and competing. If me and him decide we wanna compete, and the UFC is throwing a $100 million dollars at us, then we'll make it happen."

That being said, the chances of a super-fight between the two champions seems unlikely. Even if it materialized, it's unlikely that it'd be a championship fight.