Kamaru Usman has been warned he would resort to wrestling after being "lit up" on the feet by Nick Diaz in a potential UFC title fight.
UFC welterweight champion Usman is pencilled in to fight Leon Edwards next, once his injured hand is fully healed. Former title challenger Diaz has insisted he only wants to fight again if a title is on the line, declaring that he could beat pound-for-pound No.1 Usman.
“If I’m going to fight, I want to fight for the title, I’m 38 years old. It’s a bigger fight and I think I’ll beat him [Usman], I would love it if they gave me a shot,” Diaz told TMZ about a potential fight with Usman.
MMA pioneer John McCarthy has backed Diaz to outclass Usman on the feet despite him being stopped by Robbie Lawler in his latest fight. “If there’s one thing that you know about Nick, he’s gonna come and give you everything that he’s got,” McCarthy said on his “Weighing In” podcast.
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“Would I mind seeing him against Kamaru? No I wouldn’t, other than this. Kamaru would stand with him until he started getting lit up and then he’s gonna go and use his wrestling – which he should. I’m not saying he shouldn’t, but what is Nick always complaining about? People wrestling.
“He’s a handful as far as the way he creates situations that he just touch, touch, touch, and he’ll throw power in there. He’ll take shots to give shots and he just keeps this buzzsaw action going that makes you start to become more defensive than offensive,”
"You end up saying screw this and when you’ve got that wrestling background. You’re Kamaru Usman and you go, ‘I’m taking him down'. That’s what I see here.”
Diaz's UFC return against Lawler last year marked his first fight in over five years. The fan favourite was suspended for five years and fined $165,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after testing positive for marijuana following his 2015 fight with Anderson Silva.
The suspension and fine were later reduced to 18-months and $100,000, but terms of his suspension meant Diaz was unable to corner his brother Nate for his fights with former two-weight champion Conor McGregor in 2016.
Diaz, 38, still put in a good performance against Lawler despite verbally submitting in the third round after being knocked down with punches. It was just the third stoppage loss of his MMA career and first since 2007.
