Kamaru Usman KOs Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 (Twitter)
UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal has made a bold claim about champion Kamaru Usman and his striking abilities
At UFC 261, during their rematch, Kamaru Usman had a special trick up his sleeve, which neither Jorge Masvidal nor the world expected. Going into the fight it was obvious that Masvidal had the edge on the feet, but Usman had different plans as he viciously knocked out Masvidal.
Masvidal made an appearance on the latest episode of ‘Impaulsive‘ podcast with Logan Paul where he discussed about his devastating loss to Colby Covington, his future plans and the champion Kamaru Usman.
While speaking about Usman he said that the pound for pound number one fighter is beatable, and his striking is average. He also believes that he wobbled Usman briefly during their rematch and he just got complacent that led to the knockout.
“Oh, I know he’s beatable. There’s not a man alive who isn’t beatable. Taking the second round out of it, the first round after I got up, I started landing some big shots. The first knee I threw he took me down. The second I hit him with, hit him right here on the chest, and my thigh hit him on the jaw, wobbled him a little bit. So on the feet, he’s nothing special, man. He might have gotten me but he’s nothing special on the feet. He’s not a legit striker on the feet yet.”
Going into the fight at UFC 272, Masvidal had a vengeful fire in his belly to inflict serious damage to Colby Covington for dragging his family into their personal rivalry. However, things didn’t go his way and he has been on a social hiatus since then.
Masvidal had some initial success in the fight with his outside kicks, but Covington’s relentless pressure proved too much for the Miami native. He defended takedowns effectively at times, but Colby’s pedigree and wrestling just proved too much for him. Even in positions where Masvidal looked like he had the upper hand, Colby effortlessly sprawled and established back control for the most part of the fight.
“I was f* irate,” Masvidal said. “I was upset, and I just like to be in isolation when I get like that. It’s better for me. Take a couple days to figure it out and if I have a problem and I can’t figure it out, f, then it’s a real problem. I could fail at something, but if I could find a way to fix it, then I can go back and address it again, then I can sleep with peace at night. So that’s what I did — five, six days in that nowhere land, like, ‘F*,’ and then I came up with a plan, and now I’m gonna execute that plan.”
“With wrestlers, when they take me out of my element, and they’re able to keep pressing that hugging game, even when I do bring it to a neutral, I’m like, ‘F***, I spent a lot of extra power doing that.’ So knowing these things, I have a slight different plan and formula going forward to address these problems that I’ve had most of my career with the f*** wrestlers.
More MMA news
Follow our dedicated MMA page for instant MMA news and updates