Kamaru Usman‘s disappointing performance against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Oklahoma City last weekend may have had more to it than fans initially realized. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ suffered a shockingly one-sided unanimous decision defeat to DDP, struggling to close the distance and, perhaps most surprisingly, failing to consistently impose his superior wrestling that many thought would provide a clear path to victory.

Kamaru Usman rallied in the fifth round, but it wasn’t enough to stop the South African from getting closer to retaining his middleweight title in convincing fashion. And now, there’s a major twist in the tale, as it turns out there may have been a significant reason behind that poor performance from the former welterweight champion. On the Pound 4 Pound podcast, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo just revealed that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ actually entered the fight heavily compromised.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but you fought with a torn pec,” Cejudo said. “And I didn’t like this from the beginning. I didn’t like you taking this fight because if you’re f—— fighting with one pec, Kamaru, that’s different, man.”

‘Triple C’ also defended his friend from criticism for failing to get Dricus Du Plessis to the mat, claiming that fans underestimate how much such an injury can affect a wrestler’s game.

“A lot of people were giving you a lot of s— because DDP was stopping your takedowns,” Cejudo continued. “But how can you get to those positions when you don’t have a f—— pec? I got your back on this one, Kamaru.”

Despite the revelation, Kamaru Usman refused to use his injuries as an excuse. While admitting he had planned to rely on his wrestling, the former champion stated that injuries are just one of the risks that every fighter accepts.

“I understand that, Henry, but it is what it is,” Usman said. “We roll the dice every time, so there are no excuses. We roll the dice, and sometimes it works out, and no one ever finds out.

“But this time, it didn’t work out. So it’s something I don’t even want to bring up. To answer your question, yes, I am 100 percent a wrestler, and I wanted to utilize that.”

The revelation definitely puts Kamaru Usman’s performance in perspective. His wrestling was largely seen as his most obvious path to victory against Du Plessis, but the South African repeatedly stuffed his takedown attempts, controlled the striking exchanges, and handed the former welterweight champion another painful defeat.

It’s also not the first time ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has competed with a serious injury. Following UFC 268 in 2021, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Usman had broken his right hand only three weeks before defending his welterweight title against Colby Covington.

Despite the setback, he won via unanimous decision, adding another successful title defense to his resume. But while that was part of all his glory in the past, the defeat against Dricus Du Plessis has now left Kamaru Usman questioning whether he should continue competing at all.

Kamaru Usman opens up about potential retirement

Speaking further on the podcast, the former champion stated he now plans to consult with his coaches and staff before making what could be the biggest decision of his career.

“Right now, I have to sit with the coaches and the team and assess kind of everything and the place where I’m at in my career,” Usman confessed. “Just all in all, see if it’s worth continuing to do this, whether it’s worth continuing to put them through that.

“Listen, I’ve never really gone out there and not represented them appropriately. This one was a hard one because I felt I didn’t do that.”

Kamaru Usman’s fight against Du Plessis was his second outing at middleweight after jumping up on short notice to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. While that performance drew some praise from fight fans despite him actually losing the bout, his latest one-sided defeat against ‘Stillknocks’ has just raised more doubts about where he stands at this point in his career.

And to be fair, these questions are especially surprising given Kamaru Usman’s already established legacy. After only losing once in his first 21 professional fights, he won The Ultimate Fighter Season 21, captured the UFC welterweight championship by dominating Tyron Woodley, and successfully defended the belt five times against the likes of Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns.

However, fast forward to 2026, the situation changes dramatically. The former champion has already lost four of his previous five fights, turned 39, and has once again revealed he competed through a serious injury.

Given everything he has accomplished in his career and the physical toll those successes have taken, it’s easy to see why retirement is suddenly firmly on the table since he wouldn’t want to be the next Tony Ferguson, a fighter who once saw the highest of highs before reaching rock bottom by recording a historic eight-fight losing streak in the UFC, setting a record for the longest skid in the promotion’s history.

“This is just as difficult of a place to be when we’ve achieved so much and you’ve got so much highs in the sport. When you start to feel the lows, it’s not that great,” Usman added. “Because you hold yourself to a certain standard.

“So when you start to feel those things, it just puts you in a really difficult and really tough place to make a tough and potentially permanent decision.”

Regardless of his decision, Kamaru Usman has surely cemented himself as one of the finest welterweights in UFC history. The only question today is whether ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ thinks he has one final chapter to write inside the Octagon.