Kamaru Usman is talking about what comes next. Sportskeeda ran a piece Tuesday on the former UFC welterweight champion’s future, his training and what still motivates him, framed around the question “What’s the next challenge?” The reporting available doesn’t name an opponent, a date or a weight class. Treat this as a statement of intent until the UFC sends somebody a contract.
The backdrop is a loss. Dricus Du Plessis beat Usman, and according to Yahoo Sports’ latest power rankings, Du Plessis is now angling for a third fight with middleweight champion Sean Strickland, whom he has already beaten twice. Du Plessis sits No. 2 at 185 in the UFC Meta Rankings, behind only Khamzat Chimaev. Losing to that guy carries no shame. It does cost you ranking real estate.
Here’s where Usman landed. The Meta Rankings at welterweight, updated after UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, have him 12th. Islam Makhachev holds the belt, and Yahoo lists him No. 1 pound-for-pound after he dismantled Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330. Ahead of Usman in the contender line are Carlos Prates, Machado Garry, Michael Morales, Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady, Gabriel Bonfim, Belal Muhammad, Joaquin Buckley, Uros Medic, Leon Edwards and Mike Malott. Yaroslav Amosov is right behind him at 13th, with Kevin Holland 14th. MMA Mania reports the old media rankings are expected to be phased out in the coming weeks, so this is the ladder that counts now.
Usman hasn’t been quiet in the meantime. On the Pound 4 Pound podcast he co-hosts with Henry Cejudo, he pushed back when Cejudo called for AI judging after two 48-47 cards in Natalia Silva’s title win over Wang Cong. “I gotta disagree with you there, how is AI supposed to judge this?” Usman said, per Bloody Elbow. On a recent episode he also stuck up for Herb Dean’s first-round stoppage of King Green against Esteban Ribovics, while Cejudo was busy demanding Dean be fired. “If you put yourself in a vulnerable position, to where you give him a reason to potentially stop it, it’s very difficult to be upset with it later, his job in there is to protect you,” Usman said.
My take: motivation is free and rankings are expensive. Eleven names separate Usman from Makhachev, and the obvious bookable fights (Malott one spot up, Amosov one spot down) each move the needle roughly as far as a $10 parlay moves my retirement fund. A ladder climb one rung at a time ends somewhere around 2028. If he means it about top-ranked opposition, the fight to ask for is Belal Muhammad at No. 7, the highest name on that list that a guy in Usman’s spot can realistically talk his way into. Win that and you skip five rungs. Lose it and the podcast gig gets a lot more of his attention. I’d want to see the opening line before I touch it, because I’ve been burned betting on a former champ’s motivation quotes before, and the sportsbook never once accepted my receipts as proof of heart.
