ABU DHABI – Kamaru Usman isn’t interested in picking or choosing opponents. He’ll leave that up to the UFC. However, he is offering his two cents on who he’d be interested in.
In a pre-fight media scrum held Friday, the UFC welterweight champion was asked who he sees as the next challenger should he defeat Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 251 main event.
Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) initially responded nonchalantly, stating it was ultimately the promotion’s decision to make the fights. Midway through his answer, however, Usman offered up a fight he hopes can happen – against Georges St-Pierre.
Why does Usman want GSP?
“The next, after Masvidal?” Usman said. “That’s up to the promotion. Whoever they throw at me is who I’m going to take on. I don’t like picking and choosing. Of course, I would love Georges St. Pierre because (of) a crazy stat I just found out. After Saturday night, after defeating Masvidal, it (will) have taken 1,875 days for Georges St. Pierre to get 12 consecutive wins. It will take me exactly 1,875 to get the exact same 12 consecutive wins. We’re tied for that record. What better way to break that record than fight the man who had that record previously?”
According to MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, Usman is slightly mistaken when it comes to the statistic. It took St-Pierre that long to pick up 12 wins, but they weren’t consecutive. St-Pierre needed 14 tries to hit the “12 UFC victories” marker.
St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) has not competed since November 2017, when he defeated Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship. St-Pierre, 39, has since retired. Prior to coming out of retirement for Bisping, St-Pierre’s previous fight was in November 2013 – a controversial (but successful) title defense against Johny Hendricks.
As for Usman, “The Nigerian Nightmare” has won 11 straight fights entering UFC 251, including victories over Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley and Rafael dos Anjos.
UFC 251 takes place Saturday at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
