Kamaru Usman Fires Back At Conor McGregor, Says ‘He Must Want To Die’

Kamaru Usman is coming off an impressive UFC welterweight title defense against the outspoken Colby Covington this past Saturday. A couple hours after the fight was over, Conor McGregor tweeted, “145. 155. 170.”

This was in reference to the Irishman’s achievement of winning title belts in the featherweight (145 lb.) and lightweight (155 lb.) divisions. The “170” or welterweight belt hasn’t been held by McGregor, but the former champion seemed to foreshadow his intentions.

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Usman was aware of the tweet and told TMZ on Monday, “He must want to die. This is not ’45, ’55. You saw what Khabib [Nurmagomedov] did to him. Oh my God. It wouldn’t be fair if I fought Conor. Much respect to Conor for what he’s done for the sport and transcended it. But nah. This ain’t what you want. Just sit down, little man. Sit down. Learn to walk before you can run. Because I would hurt that guy.”

Usman defeated Covington on Saturday via TKO in the fifth round at UFC 245 in Las Vegas for his 15th consecutive win. It was a very close fight going into the final round, but Covington was fighting with a broken jaw that he sustained in the third round and could not recover.

“The Nigerian nightmare” looked very impressive in the fight landing 48% of his total strikes, compared to Covington’s 36%. Usman didn’t make mistakes and never needed his wrestling background to bring the match to the mat. His striking skills looked better than ever, and he never shot aggressively or put himself in harm’s way.

When asked in the post-fight press conference if he wanted to fight Jorge Masvidal next, Usman replied, “Eh. Man, there’s a lot of tough guys in the division. I mean let’s be honest, if you’re talking about someone who’s deserving, Leon Edwards hasn’t lost since he fought me. He’s been finishing guys and he’s now found himself in the position I found myself in a little over a year ago.”

UFC President Dana White, on the other hand, has different plans for the welterweight champion. “It’s massive,” White said about a possible matchup with Masvidal. “The Masvidal fight versus Usman, it’s a big deal. He fought (Nate) Diaz for the ‘BMF’ belt and now to fight for the actual title against the guy who’s tough as nails, it’s fun.”

This will most likely be the next fight for Usman, but he told TMZ, “If I had to choose, of course I want Georges. I want GSP. One more win and I tie him for the most consecutive wins. How sweet would that be to actually get that win off of him?”

Georges St-Pierre is a former champion who won 12 consecutive fights in the welterweight division from 2007 to 2013. However, he hasn’t fought since he came out of retirement to defeat Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title in 2017.

St-Pierre currently trains at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, but is formally retired and has removed himself from the UFC’s USADA-led drug-testing pool. In order to make a second comeback he would have to re-join the pool and be tested for six months prior to competition. His preference was to fight Khabib, but the UFC didn’t really agree with the idea.

Usman claimed, “I think it’s a big, big, big fight. All due respect to Georges, but I think I finish him.”

Article by Frank DeLorenzo