Kamaru Usman believes he has earned the right to face UFC 322 main event winner

Former UFC champion Kamaru Usman believes he has earned the right to face the winner of the UFC 322 main event.

For the longest time now, Kamaru Usman has been seen as one of the greatest welterweights in the history of mixed martial arts. While many would still put Georges St-Pierre ahead of him in the pecking order, others wouldn’t – and that includes UFC boss Dana White.

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In terms of the present day, though, Usman is coming off the back of a win over Joaquin Buckley that helped him break his three-fight losing streak. On Saturday night, he will be watching closely as Jack Della Maddalena defends the UFC welterweight championship against Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 322.

During a recent interview, Usman made it known that he is interested in challenging the winner for the strap.

Usman wants winner of UFC 322 main event

“A lot of people had a lot of questions: ‘Can he still fight? Is he still this guy? Is he still this way?’ I hope I proved that to everyone (against Buckley),” Usman told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I have my eye on this weekend. We’ll see who comes out victorious (Della Maddalena or Makhachev). I think it’s a big fight, it’s a good fight, it’s a tough fight for both guys. I’m sitting here looking at the winner like, ‘All right, let’s run it.'”

He continued, “I’m in a position now to where I want the biggest, most challenging fights out there, because I understand that I don’t have another 20 fights left in the company. Anything could happen, so if you can get that next one and it could be that fight, then that’s what I want.”

“It’s not that I’ve had conversations, because the UFC is gonna do what they feel is best for them. You just have to let it play out, and they’re gonna do what they feel is best for them. Hopefully that’s me,” Usman said. “‘Deserve’ is not a word that I like to use a lot. I don’t like that word. No one deserves anything.

“I think it’s what you’ve earned, and if the company feels that I’ve earned that shot … I’ve showed them I am still that guy. Hopefully (the win over Buckley) is enough to show them that I’m ready to go back and sit on my rightful place, which is the top of the division, and go through these guys one by one again.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie