Kamaru Usman has never shied away from heated rivalries in the UFC. His battles with Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal were as personal as they were professional. But when it comes to Belal Muhammad, there’s no real fire there and Usman makes that clear.
Belal has thrown Usman’s name around a few times, especially since his loss to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. He’s been vocal about wanting to share the Octagon with Usman. But for Usman, the feeling isn’t mutual. Speaking at UFC Atlanta media day, he brushed off the idea with honesty and zero drama.
“Now here’s the thing, when Belal Muhammad was champion, there was a reason to fight Belal Muhammad,” Usman said. “He had the title. Let’s be honest here, we’re not the best of friends, but I don’t wish him any bad. He’s my Muslim brother, so I don’t wish him any bad.
“But what do you have to offer me? You going to give me a side deal? You going to throw me a little extra cash on the side? If he’s willing to do that, maybe. But who knows? I hope he’s recovering well. That was a tough loss. Hopefully, he bounces back.”
Back when Muhammad held the title, there was at least something on the line. Now, Usman doesn’t see the value. Usman respects him as a fellow Muslim and wishes him well, however, when it comes to business, there’s just nothing Muhammad brings to the table right now.
The fighter even joked that unless Belal’s offering something extra—like a side deal or a bigger paycheck—there’s no reason to make that fight happen. And while the two had an intense moment during a podcast episode that never aired, Usman says there’s no lingering animosity. Whatever tension happened off-camera, he’s left it there.
Compared to the wars he had with Covington, this situation barely registers for Usman. He sees Muhammad as another guy in the division who had his moment, got a little loud once the belt was around his waist, and now is trying to claw his way back. There’s no beef—just different paths.
“There was never bad blood,” Usman said. “That was never really the case. If you look at the history, you look at myself and Colby Covington, that rivalry, which it’s over with, Colby is Colby, but that story, there was things that are lined up there with that one. With Belal, no, it’s just a guy in the division that did well, eventually became champion, and then once he became champion, you really start to hear his voice a little bit more.
“At times, he was a little bit annoying, but that was pretty much it. There’s no necessarily bad blood between me and Belal. It is what it is. I wish him well. If I’m champion, I’m sure he’s going to want to fight me. If he’s champion, I’m going to want to compete against him for sure.”
Right now, Usman’s focus is firmly on UFC Atlanta. After nearly two years away, he’s stepping back into the cage against Joaquin Buckley.
The break has done his body good. Usman stayed active for years—even as a champion—and finally had the chance to heal. The narrative around his knees has become a running joke, but he’s quick to remind everyone that he’s been dominating fights with those same knees for years.
“I’m good. Really, really, I’m good,” Usman said. “It’s funny because that’s a running knock — knees, knees, knees! They don’t realize [my] knees were [actually] worse in my first fight in the UFC. My first fight, I was coming in right off the back of a microfracture surgery. Doctors say that’s about an eight-month recovery, and I fought four months after the surgery. I don’t think people realize that it was worse before.
“I know it’s a running joke, everyone likes to joke about it but I’ve been beating people’s asses with [these] knees. So it is what it is. They can say whatever they want. Saturday, we’re going to get in there, he’s going to punch me, I’m going to punch him, and we’re going to see who wins.”
The “Nigerian Nightmare” not just coming back to “take fights.” Usman’s looking for gold again. The mission is clear: finish Buckley, and then wait for the winner between Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena. That’s the fight that excites him. That’s the kind of challenge he’s after.
“My path there? Pretty simple. I just laid out the map right here — finish Buckley this weekend and then wait for the winner of I believe Islam [Makhachev] and JDM (Jack Della Maddelana), which I believe is going to be an incredible fight. Such a great thing now having Islam come up now into the division. Who wouldn’t buy a ticket to that? Former pound-for-pound and current pound-for-pound? I love Islam. Islam’s a great fighter. I think that’s something we would both remember forever.
“Win that and go ahead and probably vacate, go up [to middleweight], myself and Dricus du Plessis if he is the champion, or Khamzat Chimaev 2, if Dricus is no longer the champion. If Dricus is the champion, we do that in the first card in Africa. That’s another blockbuster. These are back-to-back blockbuster fights that you tell your grandkids about. Who wouldn’t watch those? Then after that, now you’re sitting with two belts, and it’s like, what do we do next? That’s long-term goal in the back of my mind.”
From there, Usman plans to go up to middleweight, chase another belt, and build a legacy people won’t forget. Whether it’s Dricus du Plessis or a rematch with Khamzat Chimaev, Usman sees blockbuster opportunities and a clear road to becoming a two-division champion.
