Kamaru Usman will welcome last minute opportunity to fight Rakhmonov
Former UFC champion Kamaru Usman is aware of the chatter surrounding UFC 310 and a potential interim title fight.
The UFC brass has yet to announce a replacement for the UFC 310 headliner. It’s unknown if Shavkat Rakhmonov will even stay on the card, but he’s been pushing for an interim title bout.
Rakhmonov was set to challenge Belal Muhammad for the interim UFC Welterweight Championship on December 7th. That plan went off the rails when Muhammad was stricken by a bone infection in his foot.
Usman has now spoken out about his name being thrown around as a possible opponent for Rakhmonov.
On a new episode of the “Pound 4 Pound Podcast,” Kamaru Usman said that he doesn’t back away when last-minute opportunities are presented (via MMAJunkie).
“The UFC is gonna call who they think is gonna be legit tough enough and man enough to step in there, is crazy enough to step in there on short notice, and go out there and possibly shock the world,” Usman said. “The UFC knows who to call when that situation happens. And if they do give me a call, I’m gonna answer the call, get a couple of things straight, and if we’ve got to do it, we’ve got to do it. I don’t shy away from any of that.”
Usman has stepped up for the UFC on late notice before. He gave the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev a run for his money back in October 2023. Chimaev was scheduled to fight Paulo Costa, who was removed from the UFC 294 card due to an elbow issue. Usman dropped a majority decision to Chimaev in a competitive three-round fight.
Could we be seeing “The Nigerian Nightmare” fighting for interim gold next month?
