Kamaru Usman made his third successful title defense as he defeated his former training partner Gilbert Burns in a sensational manner. The MMA world was in awe of Usman’s performance. The champion proceeded to call out his former opponent Jorge Masvidal for a rematch next.

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Masvidal and Usman fought at UFC 251, with Usman coming out triumphant. ‘Gamebred’ is currently one of the biggest names on the UFC roster and a fight against him certainly guarantees a big pay-day for the champion. However, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes Masvidal is not a very stern challenge for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.

First off, I think Usman is very aware, right? This pay-per-view did 1.2, 1.3 million In July. A lot of it was based on Jorge Masvidal and all the entry he has captured. So late in his career,” said DC.

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 12: (R-L) Kamaru Usman of Nigeria takes down Jorge Masvidal in their UFC welterweight championship fight during the UFC 251 event at Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 12, 2020 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Secondly, and I’m not trying to crap on Jorge Masvidal, it was not that difficult a fight. I fought Frank Mir in the same way where I just clinch him. It’s not hard to do that when a guy doesn’t really have the ability to get away from you,” he further added.

Does this pay-per-view do what the last one did? I don’t think so. Because we’ve seen it before. But it still does better than anything else that he can do right now. I think it’s fantastic. Put those guys on TUF. Let them argue with each other,” Cormier said further.

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Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman as coaches of TUF?

Masvidal and Usman are tipped to coach opposite to one another in The Ultimate Fighter ahead of their proposed rematch. Given Masvidal’s stardom right now, he will bring attention to whatever he does right now. It will also be a chance for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ to create an impact on the audience.

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 12: Jorge Masvidal battles Kamaru Usman in their UFC welterweight championship fight during the UFC 251 event at Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 12, 2020 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)

It’s true Usman dominated the first fight in July last year. But taking Masvidal’s 6-day notice into consideration, a rematch is not very much out of the context and will be a fairer spectacle of both fighters’ skillsets.

What do you make of Daniel Cormier‘s assessments? Can ‘Gamebred‘ prove the doubters wrong?

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Apratim Banerjee

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Apratim Banerjee is a senior UFC author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters. Dan Henderson’s brutal knockout against Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in 2009 is one of his earliest memories of the sport. He has never missed a UFC PPV or a Fight Night since, which speaks volumes about his wealth of MMA knowledge. Israel Adesanya, Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Conor McGregor are some of his favorite fighters. Apart from this, Apratim plays soccer in his free time and loves scoring long-distance goals.

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