Kamarudeen Usman[1] (born May 11, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Welterweight Champion.

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Usman was also The Ultimate Fighter 21 tournament winner. As of September 27, 2021, he is #1 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

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As a wrestler, Usman primarily competed at 84 kilograms, and was a 2010 US University World Team Member.[10] Collegiately, he competed at 174 pounds, and was the 2010 NCAA Division II National champion, a three–time NCAA DII All-American and a NAIA National qualifier

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Usman started wrestling in his sophomore year in high school, at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas. Because Usman's wrestling coach at the time had trouble pronouncing his first name Kamarudeen, he got the nickname "Marty" when he joined the team and it stuck with him during his amateur wrestling career.

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UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards got in a first sparring session for their upcoming rematch at UFC 278, with Usman playfully promising a wrestling match and mocking his U.K. counterpart’s history with common foe Jorge Masvidal.

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Amid largely respectful pre-fight talk, Usman brought up Edwards’ past as they debated the relative merit of their resumes in advance of the ESPN+ pay-per-view headliner on Aug. 20 in Salt Lake City.

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“Listen, I like you,” Usman said. “You my man. I’ve done a lot for you. That man went back there in London, he put his hands on you, and you guys didn’t do nothing, so I had to handle it for you – that’s why I had to knock his head to the moon. I got him for you, so I like you. Thank me.”

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“They hid him from me,” interrupted Edwards, explaining his side of an infamous backstage run-in with Masvidal where “Gamebred” punched him at UFC London in 2019. “They called the police and hid him. That’s what happened.”

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Edwards smiled at the gamesmanship in what was a largely fun-loving, if a little testy, meeting between two professionals. Usman, the No. 1 ranked fighter in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings pound-for-pound and welterweight list, gloated about his 2015 decision win over Edwards – and his superior record of octagon knockouts. Continue reading

At the conclusion of the press conference, the two men came face-to-face for an intense faceoff. Check out the video of the staredown between Usman (21-1 MMA, 15-0 UFC) and Edwards (19-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in the video above.

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