UFC Champion Kamaru Usman Demands A Shot At Canelo Álvarez Next


Kamaru Usman made a playful grimace and lowered his head. He had just secured the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title in a five-round fight with Colby Covington at Madison Square Garden at UFC 268.

The 170-pound class belt lay on a table beside him, the leather-covered gold plate gleaming as brightly as the collars of Usman’s metallic suit and his diamond necklace. Earlier in the week, Usman wanted to fight top boxer Saúl Álvarez, who, again on Saturday night, deftly knocked out Caleb Plant in Las Vegas in the 11th round. Usman’s boss, UFC President Dana White, downplayed the feasibility of a crossover mega-war to reporters minutes before Usman’s press conference. Osman disagreed.

“Dana doesn’t know that,” Usman said. “I want something that scares me.”

The prospect of pairing Usman with the best boxer on the planet may not deter Usman, but White and UFC officials are right to be hesitant about the hypothetical bonanza. In this era of blurred lines in martial arts, organizers have abandoned the logic of competition to appease a new paying fan base. Along with Usman and Álvarez, the award may not ensure the success of similar recent experiments.

Álvarez dominates an audience and has produced an undisputed result, knocking Plant out to tie the full 168-pound belts. Most of the audience at the MGM Grand Garden Arena supported Álvarez, a Mexican known by the nickname Canelo, and Showtime built the event around him alone. People from all over the country, including White, bought the pay-per-view broadcast. A picture circulated on Twitter as Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili battled for the 115-pound title in the main event of the UFC, watching her on an octagonal monitor. White later told Álvarez that he had bet $100,000 to win by knockout.

When asked if Usman would box Álvarez, White said, “I watched the Canelo fight tonight.” “He doesn’t want to fight Canelo. Come on, man, let’s put an end to this.”

This isn’t the first time White has dealt with cross-fights. Brave Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor allowed himself to box Floyd Mayweather in 2017, a show that earned McGregor at least $30 million. This amount is rare for mixed martial arts competitions, and while Usman will likely get much less for a match with Álvarez, the amount will still be a pay raise as he faces off against his mixed martial arts rivals.

Jake Paul and Logan Paul, two brothers with popular YouTube channels, pioneered a change in combat sports last year. While Logan Paul battled Mayweather in an exhibition this summer, Jake Paul beat relatively safe opponents: a retired basketball player and two MMA fighters were past their prime. The details looked outrageous to gullible boxing fans, but the brothers’ wide social media following allowed the fights to be a success.

Usman doesn’t have stardom like Pauls or McGregor and said he doesn’t want to pursue that. But taking a closer look at their fights would lead to more dollars. He laughed when asked if he could box Álvarez for help.

“Of course we want the money,” Usman said.

Usman is also intrigued by the difficulty of facing Álvarez, as he has beaten many of the best opponents in his division.

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a master at what he does,” Usman said. “I love him and respect him, so I want to challenge myself.”

Usman is highly respected in mixed martial arts circles. After beating Covington, White and others talked about how they could compare to the all-time greatest middleweights like Georges St-Pierre.

It’s clear he doesn’t have the same fans as Álvarez, though. Usman’s support at Madison Square Garden was mixed, and the crowd at times cheered for Covington, an ardent supporter of former president Donald J. Trump, who made conservative politics a central part of his personality.

Cheer for Covington increased in the later stages of the match as he bounced back from two knockouts in Round 2 and challenged Usman throughout the stretch.

Had Usman not taken the knockouts, the judges could easily have scored the decision differently, leaving room for debate and an easy path for a third fight between Usman and Covington.

Beyond Usman-Covington, other fighters have also drawn attention to his UFC 268 card. Lightweight Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler presented their best match of the night, a fast-paced match that Gaethje won, both men bleeding and needing hospital exams. Namajunas also defended the strawweight title against Zhang in a split decision.

If Usman were to box Álvarez, the differences between mixed martial arts and boxing, including the sports themselves and the pay gap between the UFC and top boxing, would have made promoting the event difficult.

Álvarez said he’s not interested in fighting Usman, and fans’ desire hasn’t gotten to the point where they say otherwise. But if that happens, Usman said Álvarez will be ready to compete in his preferred discipline. Usman said he would also fight him in mixed martial arts, though he doubted Álvarez would attempt it.

“We are the ones who are willing to go out there and take that risk,” Usman said. “They wouldn’t dare come here and take that risk.”



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