Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman, former UFC welterweight champion, has spoken out about Jake Paul's chances in MMA rules bouts against Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. Kamaru noted that he wouldn't be surprised to see Jake win those confrontations.

"Honestly, it's a time where anything can happen. I don't really know what to think. To say that Jake doesn't have a chance is complete nonsense. Everyone has a chance. Like I said, the world has been turned upside down. It's not all that unrealistic. Everything can happen," - stated the fighter.

Recall, earlier Jake Paul called a whole list of MMA fighters, who, according to him, refuse to fight with him.

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman assessed undefeated middleweight prospect Bo Nickal's prospects in the promotion.

Nickal defeated Cody Brandege by choke at UFC 300 on April 13 to improve his record to 6-0.

"If your goal is to become a champion, you have to be prepared to face a fighter like Strickland in a five-round fight sooner or later. Or Costa. Or Whittaker. Or Cannonier. You have to know how to proceed. Basically, middleweight is absolutely difficult to do well. He needs to keep his cool.

In my opinion, Bo is less than 10 fights away from a title fight. If he continues to progress at the pace he is now, in two years, Nickal will definitely be among the contenders. In about four fights he will be on that list," MMA Fighting quoted Usman as saying.

Kamaru Usman, former UFC welterweight champion, has spoken out about the career prospects of the promotion's current bantamweight champion Alex Pereira.

"Of course, Tom Aspinall is a very good fighter. He is the interim heavyweight champion. However, I think Alex Pereira has the potential to become a champion in this division if he continues to train and fight. If Alex wants to fight next month, he could do 84kg, 93kg, and 100kg with no problem. However, if his opponents take the path of least resistance and avoid fighting him, they may have a problem. Alex has a unique fighting style that makes it difficult for opponents to prepare for him. I believe that if Alex continues to improve and fight the same way, he will be a formidable opponent for any fighter in the middleweight, flyweight and heavyweight divisions," Yardbarker quoted Usman as saying.

Kamaru Usman, former UFC welterweight champion, gave his prediction for the recently announced bout between the organization's lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and former interim champion in the division, Dustin Puryear.

"Don't write Puryear off. If Dustin finds his game, he can hurt Islam. But I think Makhachev's grappling just stunned everyone. And it will be too hard for Dustin Porier," Usman said on YouTube channel Pound4Pound.

The fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Puryear will take place at UFC 302 in Newark (USA) on June 1.

Recall, in his last fight, Porier finished lightweight prospect Benoit St. Denis.

Former dominant UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman explained why Justin Gaethje lost to Max Holloway last weekend at the UFC 300 anniversary event in Las Vegas, USA.

"One second before the end of the first round, Max broke his nose with a leg kick from the turnbuckle and that played a huge role because you can't breathe properly after something like that. There were also two pokes to the eyes, clear and obvious. And it's not about whether Max did it accidentally or intentionally - it happened, and things like that can change the course of a fight," Usman said on Henry Sejudo's podcast.

Recall that Gaethje lost to Holloway by knockout in the fifth round and lost the symbolic belt of the BMF.