“This is his last chance to try to not only become a champion, but to even really stay relevant in his division.” Daniel Cormier had some pretty strong words for the former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, as he looked ahead to his fight against Joaquin Buckley. Meanwhile, many others expressed their worries regarding ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s troubled knees. But that’s not the only thing that has put a shadow of doubt regarding Usman’s performance prior to UFC Atlanta. 

‘New Mansa’ has been rocking a 6-fight win streak and impressed the world with his last win over Colby Covington. On the other hand, Usman is on a 3-fight losing streak and hasn’t really fought in the last 2 years. So, it’s pretty natural for anyone to choose Buckley for the win, don’t you agree? And that’s exactly what Demetrious Johnson did. 

During a recent conversation with MMA Guru on The Mighty Guru Show, Johnson weighed in on the upcoming bout between the two welterweights. He said, “I’m gonna go with Buckley. The reason why, is I feel Buckley is part of this new guard, right? I feel him being at welterweight is the division he needs to be at. I feel he’s got some momentum behind him. He can fight anywhere he has the power.” 

But ‘The Mighty Mouse’ didn’t really leave Usman out of the discussion. He believed that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ can “get it done.” However, UFC 294 showed a different story. It was the time when Usman fought Khamzat Chimaev, and ‘Borz’ dominated the bout. Johnson reflected back when Chimaev took control of Usman’s back and pounded him. The former flyweight champion claimed that things might have been different had Usman just stretched Chimaev out and focused on pounding him, instead of focusing on the choke. And that’s where ‘New Mansa’ seemingly had the advantage. 

‘The Mighty Mouse’ continued, “You gotta decide. It’s like okay, I’m going to ground-and-pound you, have the ref stop it. Like, you gotta protect yourself, force that. And I think Joaquin Buckley knows that. I think Joaquin finishes him, probably in the fourth round.” And the MMA Guru had to agree. As per the MMA journalist, Buckley had a high probability of winning by KO/TKO in the late rounds. Doesn’t that feel eerily similar to Usman’s loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 278? Well, ‘Rocky’ indeed sent Usman to the ground with a head kick in the 5th round. Who knows, Buckley might just recreate that and send Usman to retirement. 

Of course, Cormier and Johnson weren’t the only ones who picked Buckley over Usman. Even the former UFC featherweight star, Din Thomas, had his doubts about ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. Let’s take a look at what ‘Dinyero’ had to say, shall we?

UFC veteran casts doubt on Kamaru Usman’s performance ahead of Joaquin Buckley fight

During a conversation with MMA Junkie, the UFC Hall of Famer pointed out that ‘New Mansa’ was pretty hungry for success. Thomas pointed out that Buckley was indeed hungry to show the world his power. However, the same wasn’t true for the former welterweight champion. Thomas said, “You’ve got a guy like Kamaru Usman, who is not really that hungry because he’s already been fed. He ate already. He’s just trying to get seconds. He’s older. I don’t know. I’m hoping he can go out there and put on a good fight, but I don’t know. I don’t see it.”

‘Dinyero’ continued, “I just don’t know. This MMA game is brutal. Everyone says I’m being a hater. I’m not being a hater. I just know how brutal it is. For as much as I would like to see Kamaru go out there and do good things, I just don’t know if he has the knees. I don’t know if he has the knees to do it.” Usman’s bad knees were bound to bounce back. Even though Ali Abdelaziz declared that Usman went through a hernia surgery and not a knee surgery, the world was already worried.  

Now, it all comes down to this Saturday night. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is already troubled with injuries, and his age nearing 40 is definitely not a good sign. On the other hand, ‘New Mansa’ is 7 years younger than Usman and has become the fan favorite. But who will win? Only time, and as we already saw, Johnson and Thomas had an answer to that. All we need to do is wait and see if they’re right. 

What do you think of the former UFC and ONE flyweight champion’s analysis? Do you think UFC Atlanta will be the last time we see Usman fight as a welterweight contender in the UFC? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.