Kamaru Usman questions MMA future after disappointing performance against Dricus du Plessis
The former UFC welterweight champion says the disappointing loss forced him to reflect on whether it's still worth competing at the highest level.
After suffering one of the toughest defeats of his career, Kamaru Usman is facing another difficult challenge, and that is deciding whether he still wants to keep fighting. Following his loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC Oklahoma City last Saturday, the former UFC Welterweight Champion admitted he has been questioning whether it's still worth continuing his career.
At 39 years old and with one of the most successful runs in UFC history, "The Nigerian Nightmare" was disappointed with his performance and now faces perhaps the biggest decision of his career.
Kamaru Usman Questions Own Future Post-OKC Loss
A former UFC welterweight champion with five consecutive title defenses, Usman is considered one of the best welterweights in the history of the promotion. Since he lost the belt to Leon Edwards, "The Nigerian Nightmare" has struggled to regain his best form.
After losing four of his last five fights, the most recent of which to Du Plessis, Usman started to question whether he still wants to keep fighting. Speaking on his Pound-for-Pound podcast, the former champion admitted he will have to think it through.
"Right now, I just have to sit with the coaches, sit with the team, assess everything," Usman began. "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."
Kamaru Usman Disappointed With Own Performance
For Usman, the defeat itself was not the hardest part. What bothered him most was the feeling that, for the first time in his UFC career, he failed to perform at the level he expects from himself.
"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. [...] 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."
Usman explained that, despite previous defeats to Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev, he always felt there was something positive to take from those performances. Against Du Plessis, however, the former champion admitted he walked away feeling he had failed to perform at the standard he expects from himself.
Kamaru Usman Taking Time Before Making a Decision
Although retirement has crossed his mind, Usman insisted he has not made any final decision. Before deciding what comes next, he plans to speak with his family and coaching staff.
"I've got to really go back, sit with the team, sit with family and assess and decide," Usman claimed. "This is just as difficult of a place to be, when we've achieved so much and you've got so much 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."
Throughout his career, Usman established himself as one of the greatest welterweights in UFC history with victories over names such as Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns. Whether he decides to continue competing, however, is a question only Usman will be able to answer.
