Getty Kamaru Usman
Kamaru Usman lost his welterweight crown last Saturday at UFC 278 and his friend, ex-light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, was in attendance.
And according to the Hall of Famer, it was a “traumatic” experience sitting beside Usman’s family at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City who watched “The Nigerian Nightmare” get knocked out by a head kick courtesy of Leon Edwards.
It was Usman’s first-ever loss competing under the UFC banner. The judges’ scorecards were released after Edwards hoisted the 170-pound championship, and they revealed that The Nigerian Nightmare was well ahead.
If he didn’t get clipped with one minute left in the final frame, he would’ve notched his sixth title defense. Usman would have also tied former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s win-streak record with 16 consecutive victories.
During a recent appearance on “Morning Kombat,” Evans outlined his experience watching Usman getting taken out.
“Just being there was unbelievable, because I’m sitting right next to his family, and his daughter’s right next to me,” Evans said via MMA Junkie. “When that whole thing happens, you just hear this scream, and it was just kind of very traumatic. For me, being like a brother to Kamaru, just watching him go down like that, it just made me real sick.”
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn was sitting in the press area Octagonside during the event as well. And according to the journalist, he watched Usman’s daughter “get carried out off the arena floor by one of (Usman’s) team as she bawled her eyes out.”
Just witnessed Kamaru Usman’s daughter get carried out off the arena floor by one of his team as she bawled her eyes out. That was a sad sight. #UFC278
Suga Had an ‘Uneasy Feeling’ About Usman’s Fight Before the Head Kick Landed
“Suga” said that although he had believed Usman would retain his title at UFC 278, he had an “uneasy feeling” he “couldn’t shake.”
“I didn’t think he was gonna lose, but sometimes you have – like when your friend or your family is fighting – you have an uneasy feeling,” Evans said.
“And I had an uneasy feeling that I couldn’t shake. When that kick happened, those worst feelings, those worst things, those worst thoughts were just realized in an instant. It was devastating.”
Suga Said Usman Has Planed Seeds for a ‘Big Return’
Evans joined Usman and his family on a private jet back to Florida on Sunday. And after speaking with The Nigerian Nightmare, Suga expects The Nigerian Nightmare to bounce back in a big way.
“I asked how he was doing. He said, ‘You know, I feel very blessed.’ And it was something that kind of took me by surprise, because I didn’t expect those words to come out of his mouth,” Suga continued. “But he said, ‘I feel very blessed, because it didn’t go my way last night, and it was a very f***** up thing that happened.’ He said, ‘But I’m glad. And I feel blessed that I get an opportunity to show everyone once again how great I am.’ And he said, ‘I’ll get to show my daughter what it means to fall down and have everything not go your way but then get up and still keep on going.’
“When he said that to me, it gave me chills, because that’s a perspective that you take once you have accepted it. … I feel like he has planted the seeds for a big return.”
UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference that the promotion would pursue a trilogy match between Edwards and Usman next. And for it, the Octagon will likely head back to England as “Rocky” is Britain’s second-ever UFC champion.
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Kamaru Usman’s Head-Kick Defeat Was ‘Traumatic’ for UFC Legend