In a matter of days, Kamaru Usman will challenge Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 235, but Usman and Woodley have already traded shots. At the UFC 235 press conference, the two welterweights had words for one another, which inevitably included predictions for how the UFC 235 co-main event will unfold. Tyron Woodley also carried a lighthearted disposition, which including making jokes likening Kamaru Usman to legendary rapper LL Cool J, which included an impersonation of a lip-balm ridden, faux-suave Usman. Kamaru Usman describes what he took away from that interaction:
“It kind of reiterated some things to me,” Usman said in an episode of Anatomy of a Fighter. “Like, I don’t know. I hope he’s just out there playing, just for the media, for the camera, to where he’s acting like he’s not taking this as serious as I’m taking it. Because I’m not coming to play. I’m not coming for that. So all that is done.”
And as far as the predictions for their contest goes, Kamaru Usman has reason to believe Woodley is not taking the fight as seriously in that aspect, either:
“I’m expecting a war. He’s talking reckless. ‘Oh, I’m gonna punish him. I’m gonna make him pay.’ You ain’t never seen me punished. You ain’t never seen me quit. I’ve seen him quit. So you’ve never seen that out of me. So you can say whatever you want. At the end of the day, March 2nd, I’m gonna climb inside that cage, you gonna climb inside that cage, they’re gonna lock the motherfuckin’ door, and it’s gonna be a fight.”
Do you believe Tyron Woodley is taking Kamaru Usman as seriously as he needs to be headed into UFC 235?
