Kamaru Usman dismisses Belal Muhammad callout, wants title shot next; Muhammad responds

Kamaru Usman has his sights set on gold again after dominating Joaquin Buckley in the UFC Atlanta main event and he’s not interested in anything else—including a longstanding grudge with another former champion.

Following a showcase performance in his first fight back in nearly two years, Usman took a victory lap by reminding all of his doubters he’s still one of the best welterweights on the planet. He was also quick to point out his win came without displaying all of his weapons, but rather just using wrestling to completely stifle Buckley for the majority of the 25-minute battle.

“Because of that fight [against Khamzat Chimaev], it’s almost like they forgot I could f*cking wrestle,” Usman said referencing his last loss. “They got dismissive and a little borderline disrespectful, but I just had to pull out the skill and just let them know respect every aspect of my game. Every aspect.

“It’s been a while not just with getting back in here but getting back in the win column. I battled a lot of things just to get here. Just repairing my body. Just physically, personally, a lot of things I guess the expression would be fight a lot of demons just to get back in here. A lot that I had to go through but thankfully I’m blessed with a great team, great support system, great family and I’m back here.”

Immediately after getting the job done, Usman received praise from his peers, with Belal Muhammad taking particular interest in the result after the two former champions engaged in a bitter rivalry for the better part of the past year.

“Congrats, see you soon,” Muhammad wrote on Twitter following Usman’s win.

During his appearance at the UFC Atlanta post-fight press conference, Usman was asked about his interest in potentially facing Muhammad if the UFC wanted to make that fight happen.

“Who is it?” Usman said in response to Muhammad’s name being mentioned. “Who’s that? Next.”

The dismissive answer from Usman earned a retort from Muhammad with a reminder about an infamous podcast episode they filmed together that allegedly ended with the fighters getting into a physical altercation. The episode has never been released.

“The guy who made you cry on your podcast,” Muhammad fired back after Usman said “who” to his name.

While that back-and-forth definitely got some attention, Usman never broke his focus from what he really wants and that’s a shot at reclaiming the welterweight title he held for over three years.

Right now, reigning champion Jack Della Maddalena is gearing up for a showdown against former lightweight king Islam Makhachev later this year with a date for the fight still to be determined.

Usman believes he’s absolutely the best person suited to face the winner of that fight and that’s the only matchup he’s interested in entertaining right now.

“Let’s be honest, I’m the biggest in the division, this is about entertainment,” Usman said. “The UFC is an entertainment company. You want make the biggest fights. It’s going to be the winner of [Jack Della Maddalena] and Islam [Makhachev].

“If Islam pulls that one out, former pound-for-pound [best]-current pound-for-pound [best]—who doesn’t pay for that?”

Usman had nothing but good things to say about Makhachev and his chances to make an impact at 170 pounds, but he was also quick to dismiss that his move to a new division automatically means he’s destined to become champion.

“JDM is no slouch, let’s not look past JDM,” Usman said about Della Maddalena. “I said that in his last fight, he went out there and he showed you guys, don’t look past him. He’s very, very talented.

“Islam is extremely talented. I love Islam. I think him coming in makes that division a lot more interesting. If he’s able to get in there and wrestle that belt away from JDM, former pound-for-pound, current pound-for-pound, I mean I think everybody wants to watch that.”

As excited as he might be about Makhachev moving to welterweight to challenge Della Maddalena for the title, Usman wasn’t interested in offering his prediction.

Instead, Usman just plans to sit back and let that fight play out with hopes he’ll be the next person in line to challenge for the title.

“I’ll be watching that fight,” Usman said. “I’ll take the winner.”