Kamaru Usman insists he is "not down at all" despite becoming more famous than ever as a meme following his knockout loss to Leon Edwards on Saturday night.
The former welterweight champion was considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, and was even eyeing up moves to middleweight or light-heavyweight after defending his title multiple times since winning it in 2019. Had he defeated Edwards, he would have beaten three of the top 10 contenders at 170lb on more than one occasion.
However, he had his title ripped from him by Edwards in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday when, with a minute to go and cruising to a points victory, the Jamaican-born Brit landed a gruesome head kick and knocked him out. Fans joked about Usman's reaction to being stopped, despite the scary circumstances, and made multiple memes of his discomfort.
But the former champion is taking it all in his stride, and insists that he understands how it feels having inflicted similar pain on the likes of Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns. He admitted that he is now more famous than ever due to the memes, as well as admitting that the support he's received since losing has humbled him.
"I'm so gracious to be in that place and time right now where people just care that much," Usman told TMZ Sports. "Like, I thought I was famous before, but f***, with the meme action going on, I'm famous now. But it's just an added bonus, an added hunger to the return."
Usman has watched the fight back multiple times already despite only returning home on Monday to his Florida home. Having fought and beaten Edwards once before in their early UFC careers, he now has almost eight rounds of footage to pour over before a rematch, which the promotion are keen to do at Wembley Stadium in London.
What did you make of Leon Edward's phenomenal head kick stoppage of Kamaru Usman on Saturday night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"I've watched that fight now, what, three four times?," he continued. "No, it's not hard at all. You know how many people I've done that to? That's the thing, that's the beautiful thing about this sport. "That happens and we forget what was actually taking place in that fight. So, I'm not down at all! You know, it's almost like everyone is more sad about it than I am... For me that's a good thing because it let's me know that people care."
Usman remains ahead of Edwards in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings, but dropped from the top spot to No.4 while the champion is now No.6. With the score 1-1 between the pair and Usman a legendary champion, it is expected that they will rematch for the title.
