Kamaru Usman is facing one of the toughest decisions of his legendary MMA career.
After suffering a unanimous decision loss to former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, the former welterweight king is no longer focused on title opportunities or weight-class discussions. Instead, Kamaru Usman is questioning whether he should continue competing at all.
The defeat marked a difficult night for the 39-year-old. Du Plessis controlled much of the fight, hurting Usman early and forcing him to battle through adversity for five rounds. Although “The Nigerian Nightmare” rallied late and made the fight more competitive down the stretch, he ultimately fell short on the scorecards.
Now, with another setback on his record, Kamaru Usman says he needs time to evaluate his future.
“Right now, I just have to sit with the coaches, sit with the team, assess everything,” Usman said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Henry Cejudo.
“Assess the place where I’m at in my career. Just all in all, see whether it’s worth continuing to do this. Whether it’s worth continuing to put them through that.”
For a fighter who built his reputation on dominance, resilience, and championship excellence, the loss has sparked deeper questions than simply deciding whether to return to welterweight or remain at middleweight.
Throughout his career, Kamaru Usman has taken pride in how he performed, even in defeat. Whether it was his dramatic knockout loss to Leon Edwards or his short-notice clash with Khamzat Chimaev, Usman always felt there was something positive to take away from those performances.
“Listen, I’ve never really gone out there and not represented them appropriately, myself and my coaches,” Usman said.
“This one was a hard one because I felt like I didn’t do that. The Khamzat fight, it’s like I took that on a week’s notice and if I had two more rounds, it’s iffy, who knows what could have happened. The Leon fight, I think I represented myself well until that last minute when I took that kick to the head.
“There was something to build off of for those fights. This one, to the untrained eye, looks like I bit off more than I could chew. Just a fair and honest assessment. Even though I may not feel that on the inside, it looked that way, and I don’t like that.”
The former champion admitted that perception matters, especially for someone who has consistently held himself to elite standards throughout his career.
“I’ve got to really go back, sit with the team, sit with family and assess and decide,” Usman said.“This is just as difficult of a place to be. When you’ve achieved so much and you’ve had so many highs in the sport, when you start to feel the lows, it’s not that great.
“Because you hold yourself to a certain standard. So when you start to feel those things, it just puts you in a really difficult and really tough place to make a tough and potentially permanent decision.”
If Kamaru Usman decides to walk away, he will leave behind one of the greatest legacies in UFC welterweight history. The former champion compiled a 21-5 professional record, secured five successful welterweight title defenses, and established himself as a future UFC Hall of Famer.
For now, however, retirement remains just one of several options on the table. Before making any final decision, Kamaru Usman plans to meet with his coaches, teammates, and family to determine whether he still has another chapter left to write inside the Octagon.
