UFC Update: Kamaru Usman Addresses Possible Fights With 'Loudmouth' Conor McGregor, Khamzat Chimaev

A wide array of potential title challengers are hoping to dethrone Kamaru Usman.

The welterweight division is undeniably one of the most stacked weight classes in the UFC so far. Reigning champion Usman is still nursing a hand injury, but his next possible opponents have already been lining up. Among them are Khamzat Chimaev and Conor McGregor.

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Usman finally shared his take on the next title contender. According to Usman, he wouldn’t turn down a scrap with Chimaev, and he’s also not ruling out the “loudmouth” McGregor. However, he’s currently focused on a potential showdown with Leon Edwards.

“It’s very difficult for me to say, ‘No, he doesn’t deserve anything,’” Usman said of Chimaev. “If that’s the fight, that’s the fight. If that’s not the fight, that’s not the fight. Right now, we’ve kind of got Leon Edwards sitting there, you got the other loudmouth little kid, the Irish guy on the side running his mouth. That guy [McGregor].”

Usman acknowledges the fact that Chimaev has beaten a top contender in Gilbert Burns, and it makes his case for title contention somewhat valid. However, the UFC’s pound-for-pound king doesn’t have the same view when it comes to McGregor.

For Usman, “The Notorious” has become irrelevant, having been unable to secure a win over a big name since 2020.

“You forget [McGregor],” the champion stressed. “This is why you forget because this guy is not relevant. He hasn’t done anything in the sport as of late so in order for him to be relevant, he has to try to attach his name to someone who is relevant.”

“But this kid [Chimaev] has done a good job going out there and defeating the #2 guy in the division,” he added.

However, Usman reiterated that whether it will be against Chimaev or McGregor, the fight would have to come “after Edwards.”

“If that’s the next fight after Edwards, then that’s the next fight,” he said. “But, Edwards is our focus right now.”

Aside from Edwards, Chimaev and McGregor, Colby Covington has also expressed his desire to have a rubber match against Usman following his victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272.

Despite having so many names in front of him, Usman admitted that “they’re all the same” to him at this point.

“At this point, they all run concurrent,” he said. “They’re all the same to me. I train the same for this fight as for Leon Edwards 1. I train the same for each and every fighter as I train for Tyron Woodley. They’re all the same.”