After UFC 278, Stripped Kamaru Usman Tells All to Joe Rogan in Shocking Revelation: “I Didn’t Even Know What Anderson Silva’s Record Was…”

Losing a championship in MMA could prove to be devastating. Since it’s an individual sport, the burden of loss is on the fighter’s shoulder.

Most of the champions who drop their belts show signs of desolation while reflecting back on their loss; however, this wasn’t the case with the former UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. 

The ex-champ has come out in several interviews after losing his gold and displayed a very positive mindset.

Usman reflects on his loss at UFC 278

In a more recent interview with Joe Rogan, Kamaru Usman explained how losing the title was a relief. The podcaster asked Usman, “you were saying it’s almost a little bit of relief?”

Usman replied, “it’s weird to really explain, but you get to a certain point where people start putting expectations on you. They start like, oh yeah! You’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do that… to where I didn’t get into it for all of that” 

He further added, “I was never attached to the title. Now as weird as it sounds, I wasn’t attached to it. It wasn’t like oh I’m the champion, I gotta hold onto it” 

“…I’ve said it before and I continue to say it, In my head each and every time I was fighting for the title or defending that belt, I was fighting for the title. I was the contender in my head” 

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The Nigerian Nightmare went on to explain how “defending the belt” is a wrong mindset since the word ‘defending’ itself means staying on the back foot and protecting. 

Usman also spoke about how he didn’t care about breaking records. “I didn’t even know what Anderson Silva’s record was until like… before last fight.” Usman said he “didn’t didn’t give a sh*t” about setting new records.

Usman was undefeated in the UFC before losing his last bout against Leon Edwards. He came into the last fight as the welterweight champion with five defenses under his belt.

Records Usman could have tied at UFC 278

The ex-pound-for-pound king was on a 15-fight win streak in the UFC and with a victory over Edwards, he would have tied Anderson Silva’s all-time record of 16. 

Usman would also have surpassed Matt Hughes for the second most consecutive title defenses after GSP. Sadly for him, Leon Edwards would cause a stop to all of Usman’s record-breaking feats. 

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