When Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley first squared off this week, ahead of their welterweight clash at UFC Fight Night inside Atlanta’s State Farm Arena (10 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+; prelims at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+), the 31-year-old contender had a question for the 38-year-old former champion.
“How’s it feel going up against the new gen?” Buckley asked.
Buckley’s job is to fight, of course, but in that moment, he directly addressed the most pressing topic of this entire event to the only person holding the answer.
Nearing 40 and more than three years removed from his last win, what does Usman have left? Can he still be a factor in the 170-pound title picture? Or is he about to become cannon fodder for someone like Buckley, who enters the weekend on a six-fight winning streak and who publicly called for this specific matchup at the end of last year?
Usman, who hasn’t fought since October 2023, declined to respond to Buckley’s probe. When asked about it later, he said, “I’m just f—ing tired. Why do I need to be talking? On Saturday, we’re going to be locked in [the Octagon], and that’s when I’m going to do the talking.”
Three years ago, Usman was a UFC champion and widely considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He suffered a Hail Mary, head kick knockout in the final minute of a five-round title fight against Leon Edwards on Aug. 20, 2022, and has struggled to find his footing since. He lost to Edwards in an immediate rematch in March 2023 then came up short in a short notice fight against Khamzat Chimaev that October.
He has been sidelined since, saying he took time to focus on nonfighting aspects of his life and “little injuries that were nagging” while he was an active champion. He also was waiting for the right opportunity. More short notice fights were thrown his way — which he entertained, because he says he loves saving the day for the UFC — but ultimately he opted to hold out for a situation that puts him in what he believes is the best position to win.
“We want to finish this the right way,” Usman told ESPN of his fighting career. “Rather than just jump in there on a week’s notice.”
If Usman upsets Buckley — as of Friday he is a +230 betting underdog, according to ESPN BET — his aspirations are still those of a fighter very much in his prime. He wants to face the winner of an expected but unconfirmed title fight between welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena and former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. And if he were to get the fight and reclaim the belt, he would do something he never came seriously close to doing during his first title reign: move up to challenge for a second belt.
“I’ll lay out the plan right here,” Usman said. “Finish Buckley this weekend, then wait for the winner of Islam and [Della Maddalena]. Who wouldn’t buy a ticket to the former pound-for-pound [Usman] against the current pound-for-pound [Makhachev]? I think that’s something Islam and I would both remember forever.
“Win that, probably vacate and go put myself against [middleweight champion] Dricus Du Plessis or Khamzat Chimaev.”
It’s the exact mindset you want to see from a returning former champion who was quiet about his fighting future during his layoff. There will likely be skepticism about how realistic Usman’s plan is, but if he looks like the champion he once was Saturday, there will be new questions.
For now, there’s only one: How does he feel going up against the new gen?
