Kamaru Usman is the first African to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title.
He defeated former title holder, Tyron Woodley, by decision to claim the coveted 170 pound belt, and win his place atop the welterweight division.
Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about the world champion.
The nickname, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is a trademark of former National Football League star, Christian Okoye.
Okoye gave Usman permission to use the epithet.
Pre-Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Professional Career
Usman was born in the bronze capital of Nigeria, Benin City. His father was in the Nigerian army, but made his way to the United States first, in order to attend school to be a pharmacists before he migrated his family to the US when Usman was only 8 years old.
Life for the young Nigerian immigrant in the US was not too rosy, as he described himself in an interview with SportingNews.
“From Nigeria, we had to farm to where you couldn’t eat unless you planted it and watched it grow. We had different things we had to plant in order to have food and continue to eat. So, yeah, we had the struggle in that sense.”
— Usman Kamaru
Usman began wrestling in his sophomore year in high school, at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas.
After his high school days, the Nigerian wrestled at William Penn University for one year, before he transferred to University of Nebraska, Kearney, where he secured the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II All-American honors, all three years he was at the University.
Usman helped the UNK team win their first-ever overall team title in 2008. In his senior year, the Nigerian won the NCAA Division II national title at 174 pounds.
Professional MMA Career
Usman made his professional MMA debut in November 2012, with a TKO (punches) win against David Glover, in the RFA5.
His second fight, however, put a lasting dent on his near perfect record. Usman lost to Jose Caceres by submission (rear-naked choke), in the first round of the fight, in the CFA II.
Ever since, Usman, has kept a clean record with his longest fight ending in the 5th Round.
Since his UFC debut in July 2015, Usman has remained undefeated in the welterweight division, with 10 straight wins from 10 fights.
Featured image source: Bella Naija
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