Dana White doesn’t think Kamaru Usman looked like a fighter who needs to retire despite the UFC Fight Night 281 main event not going his way.
Former longtime welterweight champion Usman (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) tried his luck again at middleweight Saturday when he took on former divisional titleholder Dricus Du Plessis (24-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. He was outworked for a unanimous decision loss, but had a few shining moments over the 25 minutes.
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It was a clear defeat, and Usman is now 1-4 in his past five fights after going on a historic 15-fight winning streak to begin his UFC tenure. At 39, questions about his future are bubbling to the surface, and although UFC CEO White prefers to leave the ultimate decision to the athlete and their team, he saw encouraging signs from Usman in defeat.
“We’ve seen the, ‘Holy shit, these guys should retire’ fights. Those weren’t it.” White told reporters post-fight at UFC Fight Night 281. “I don’t know. Obviously a great fight. Fighting a much bigger guy. He’s got a great chin – he’s still got it. It’s not like, ‘Oh, Usman’s done and he should retire.’ He had a great fight tonight. I don’t know. He’s got to go home, rest, heal up and figure out what’s next.”
If Usman continues to compete, as he hinted in the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 281 that he would, then “The Nigerian Nightmare” has a choice to make about what weight class he’ll compete at.
White said the door is open for Usman to fight at 170 or 185 pounds, and he’s earned the respect to pick what he wants without input from the company.
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“He’s accomplished so much and he’s fighting literally the No. 1 or No. 2 best guy in the world, who is way bigger than he is,” White said. “I think Kamaru’s done enough in his career where it’s up to him. These are questions you ask him tonight about how he feels at that weight and what he wants to do. It’s not like he’s some young guy who hasn’t done anything. This guy has done it all.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White: Kamaru Usman has ‘still got it’ despite UFC OKC loss
