“If Usman can keep doing what he’s doing, he’s going to go down as the greatest welterweight ever. Fact”.
Kamaru Usman just broke Georges St-Pierre’s record for the longest winning streak in UFC welterweight history with a third-round TKO of Gilbert Burns, but will ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ be able to surpass ‘Rush’ as the welterweight GOAT?
It’s certainly a tall order, but UFC president Dana White thinks Usman is well on his way to overtake St-Pierre in the rankings following his 13th consecutive win and third defense of the welterweight title at UFC 258 this past Saturday.
“He just broke his record tonight,” White told reporters following Usman’s win against Burns in the UFC 258 main event (h/t MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn). “If you look at what he just did, he broke his record tonight for consecutive wins (in the welterweight division), and if this guy keeps rolling, if Usman can keep doing what he’s doing, he’s going to go down as the greatest welterweight ever. Fact.
“Just look at who he’s fought and who he has to fight here in the future, it’s undeniable that this guy will go down as the best welterweight. The question is, where will he go down in the history of the sport?”
Usman’s reign as champion has been nothing short of phenomenal but the 33-year-old is still 6 title defenses away from breaking GSP’s record for the most welterweight title defenses in UFC history at 9.
With that said, White thinks it’s time for the casual audience to finally start acknowledging Usman as ‘the real deal’ following his stunning TKO victory against Burns.
“The kid’s the real deal. For the people that know, for the people that actually know about fighting, they know that this win tonight was a big deal over a very motivated, well trained, mentally tough, confident, badass kid.
“This guy’s got nothing but badass dudes lined up ahead. If he doesn’t have the respect now, he should’ve got it after the Covington fight. I can’t stop talking about the Covington fight. One of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. Anyone who didn’t respect him after that? That’s your problem, not his.”
Usman, who is undefeated since May 2013, is currently #5 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.