Kamaru Usman is not going to hang up his gloves after losing to Dricus Du Plessis, according to his longtime manager.
Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA told MMA Junkie in a recent interview that, despite claims from the former UFC champion about possible retirement, Usman (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) won’t ride off into the sunset just yet.
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Usman lost a unanimous decision to Du Plessis at UFC Fight Night 281 in July to fall to 1-4 in his past five. He went up to middleweight for the matchup, which is not a division Abdelaziz sees as the right fit going forward.
“Kamaru Usman is not going to retire,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “He’s fighting the best guys in the he world. He fought (Joaquin) Buckley and beat him. Before that he fought Khamzat (Chimaev) on 10 days’ notice. He’s not losing – nobody is whipping Kamaru’s ass. He’s always in the fight. I was always against going to middleweight, because I think he’s too small for middleweight.”
Abdelaziz acknowledges that Usman, like any fighter, could decide this is his end point for a variety of reasons. However, Abdelaziz still thinks “The Nigerian Nightmare,” at 39, has more left to give.
“If he decides to stay, I think he needs to go back to welterweight, and there’s a lot of great matchups for him at welterweight,” Abdelaziz said. “He was the right opponent for Islam. He was Islam’s toughest fight. He proved it because he handled a guy that is 20 pounds heavier than him on fight day. Not taking anything away from Du Plessis, he’s a great fighter, and he won fair and square. Kamaru was always there in the fight. He came on hard late in the fight.
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“Kamaru Usman is a future Hall of Famer, the greatest welterweight of all time. He’s one of the few guys that Dana White respects and loves as a human being and as a fighter. He never turned down a fight. And he is an absolute f*cking legend, man. Whatever he wants, he can do at this point of his career.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Manager: ‘Kamaru Usman is not going to retire,’ should return to 170
