Kamaru Usman could barely catch his breath as he explained fighting ‘a lot of demons’ after his win at UFC Atlanta.
Usman snapped a three-fight losing skid to outpoint Joaquin Bucklet on Saturday night, claiming a convincing unanimous decision victory with the first four rounds clearly being in his favour.
Usman won his first fight since 2021 at UFC AtlantaGetty‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ hadn’t tasted victory since 2021 ahead of the fight, but has firmly stamped his name back into title contention in what could be a late bid to reclaim the UFC welterweight belt at the age of 38.
Usman was asked whether his victory serves as a reminder to just how great he is during a post-fight press conference at UFC Atlanta on Saturday night.
He was forced to take a moment before he could respond.
“It’s hard, it’s been a while not just with getting back in here, but obviously getting in the win column,” he said after taking several deep breaths and failing to contain his emotions.
Usman hadn’t won in the UFC ahead of this weekend since outpointing Colby Covington in November 2021.
He was the welterweight champion at the time but dropped the belt in his subsequent bout nine months later after being viciously knocked out by Leon Edwards.
Edwards won the rematch before Usman found himself back in the cage in October 2023, losing to Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight in his last fight ahead of UFC Atlanta.
The aforementioned bouts are the only defeats of Usman’s entire UFC career and it’s clear that his victory over Buckley was a huge weight lifted off his shoulder.
“I battled with a lot of things just to get here. To repair my body physically and personally,” Usman added.
“There were a lot of things that [I had to deal with]. I guess the expression would be fighting a lot of demons.”
Usman couldn’t hide his emotions when addressing the media after his latest winUFC The Nigerian was able to control Buckley on the canvas for large periods of the fightGetty It was a vintage performance from ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ against all oddsGettyUsman later expanded on his comments when speaking to the UFC, hinting at some personal struggles in his life.
“There were a lot of emotions that I had to battle just to get back here,” he said.
“A lot of things that a lot of people don’t know. Hopefully, eventually, at the end, I’ll reveal all of that.
“But [there was] a lot that I had to deal with just to get back in here. Personally, and of course mentally, but with the help of my loved ones, my family, and my team we were able to get back here.
“So I’m just grateful and I’m just blessed.”
Usman found no issues with dragging Buckley to the canvas four times during their five-round co-main event bout.
Buckley was on a six-fight win streak before he met UsmanGettyUFC Fight Night: Usman vs Buckley Results
Main Card
Kamaru Usman def. Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision
Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision
Edmen Shahbazyan def. Andre Petroski via unanimous decision
Raoni Barcelos def. Cody Garbrandt via unanimous decision
Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Cody Brundage via unanimous decision
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ took full advantage of his superior wrestling skills to prevent Buckley from building any momentum on the feet.
Buckley was then forced to go wild in the fifth and final round, as he knew he was down on the judges’ scorecards.
But the 31-year-old failed to catch Usman with the incredible one-punch power we’ve seen on so many occasions before, and ultimately succumbed to a Fight of the Night defeat.
Usman has since received plenty of praise from those in the MMA world following his performance.
He was widely viewed as a pretty big underdog for the fight, given his age, injury concerns, and the fact that Buckley had scored four successive UFC victories since Usman last fought.
“One of the best Kamaru Usman performances we have seen in a long time!” ex-UFC two-weight champion and commentator Daniel Cormier wrote on X after the bout.
Usman is a former UFC champion and now wants to reclaim his titleGETTY Australian Della Maddalena is the current king at 170 poundsGettyAnother former champion in Henry Cejudo, who runs a popular podcast with Usman, added: “Master class from Kamaru. Reversing the age on everybody. He’s next for the strap!”
Usman asserted that he was ‘for sure’ next for a welterweight title shot after his victory over Buckley.
The division is currently ruled by Jack Della Maddalena, who dethroned Belal Muhammad of the strap at UFC 315 last month.
Della Maddalena is likely to make his first title defence in the toughest fight of his career against lightweight and UFC pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev will no longer be the lightweight champion when Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira meet later this month at UFC 317, as he has vacated the belt to move up and contest for gold at welterweight.
“If Islam pulls that off, former pound-for-pound vs. current pound-for-pound. Who doesn’t pay for that?” Usman said.
Usman rose to the UFC’s No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter during his two-year stint as champion, having embarked on the second longest undefeated run in UFC history at the start of his career.
Elsewhere at UFC Atlanta, former two-time women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas outpointed Miranda Maverick in the co-main event.
Meanwhile, Edmen Shahbazyan, Raoni Barcelos, and Mansur Abdul-Malik all claimed unanimous decision wins.
Scotland’s Paul Craig was forced to a no-contest in his bout with Rodolfo Bellato after an illegal up kick, with the impact seemingly exaggerated by his Brazilian opponent.
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