Kamaru Usman on MMA’s vicious cycle that ties Ben Askren to Carlos Prates

Kamaru Usman linked together a chain of events that started with Ben Askren and now ties to Carlos Prates in the wake of major happenings at UFC 322. This was discussed by Usman as well as his co-host, Henry Cejudo, on their podcast, Pound 4 Pound Show, who broke down all the major happenings from the UFC’s latest foray into Madison Square Garden.

Touching upon a major match-up in the division he once helmed over as champion, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ discussed the latest setback for the man who claimed the welterweight title from him. That combatant was Leon Edwards, who suffered a devastating KO loss to Carlos Prates over the weekend. Using this Prates-Edwards result as a bit of a microcosm for how unpredictable mixed martial arts can be, during an excerpt of the podcast posted to X account @RedCorner_MMA, Usman said,

“Oh, man, is this sport unforgiving, sheesh. Henry [Cejudo], should we run this train down of what has happened here? Let’s run this train down, ok, Ben Askren-Jorge Masvidal leaves him out there on a stretcher. Jorge Masvidal-Usman, it looked bad. Usman-Leon Edwards, sheesh, head kick heard around the world. Then now Leon Edwards and Carlos Prates… That’s the thing is that’s the game. You never know when it’s your time.”

Kamaru Usman on Islam Makhachev turning his attentions to him

Kamaru Usman is also directly tied to one of the major happenings from UFC 322, as the newly minted welterweight titleholder has turned his attentions to the former champion. This came in the wake of Islam Makhachev emerging as a two-division UFC champion when he emphatically claimed the 170-pound strap from Jack Della Maddalena on November 15th.

Usman recognized the UFC champion’s desire to fight him and seemed game to fight such a proficient, well-rounded fighter. Usman said, in the context that he gets the next title shot, that he hasn’t felt this same kind of pressure-based mentality heading into a fight with a highly skilled opponent since he battled with a prime Colby Covington.

To tie this into other big happenings at UFC 322, Michael Morales [who beat one of the top welterweight contenders in Sean Brady] and the aforementioned Prates both have strong cases for potential title shots, and the vibrancy of the division is evident by many right now.