Who is Kamaru Usman ?
Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian-American Mixed Martial Artist and current UFC Welterweight Champion.
Kamaru, whose other name is Kamarudeen was born on May 11, 1987 in Benin City, Nigeria to a Nigerian Army Father, now this should make his choice career clearer to you right.
Kamaru and his family moved to the United states in 1995, when he was just eight years old. He started wrestling in his sophomore year in high school, at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas.
After compiling a 53-3 record in high school wrestling, Usman wrestled alongside Jon Jones at the senior national tournament before leaving for college
After high school, Usman wrestled at William Penn University for one year, where he was an NAIA national qualifier. He then transferred to the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
He was known in wrestling circles as Marty.
Usman has a brother, Mohammed, who is also a mixed martial artist. Former star of the Nigeria Football League, Christian Okoye, said that he gives Kamaru the permission to use his trademarked nickname ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ for free.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it ?
Usman made his professional MMA debut in November 2012. He compiled a record of 5–1, competing for several regional promotions before trying out for The Ultimate Fighter in early 2015.
In February 2015, it was announced that Usman was one of the fighters selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians, a fight he went on to emerge winner in the tournament.
On July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, He won Hayder Hassan via submission in the second round, thus winning a six-figure contract with the management of UFC.
He was also awarded a Performance of the Night bonus, which is a cash bonus awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on the internal decisions of UFC management.
Usman also won the performance of the Night bonus on November 30, 2018, in his fight against Rafael dos Anjos. A fight he won by unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale.
On March 2, 2019, at UFC 235, Kamaru Usman broke a record as the first African fighter to win a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title.
He won the bout against American then champion, Tyron Woodley via a dominant unanimous decision. The win makes Kamaru Usman the current Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Champion (UFC), no African has attained this feat in the world before now.
The interesting thing about Kamuru’s win was made by him during a post-win interview, the MMA artiste revealed that before the match, he had a fractured foot and had only camouflaged it using a supportive boot all through the week.
