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UFC 251: People started hating Mayweather – Dominant Usman rejects boring tag

UFC 251: Kamaru Usman rejected talk of his win over Jorge Masvidal being boring, comparing such critiques to those received by Floyd Mayweather.

By Nicholas Mcgee
Kamaru Usman

Abu Dhabi, July 12: Kamaru Usman dismissed suggestions his UFC 251 win over Jorge Masvidal was boring, comparing such criticism to that received by Floyd Mayweather during his unbeaten boxing career.

Usman retained the welterweight title with a methodical victory over Masvidal on 'Fight Island' in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (July 12), winning via unanimous decision.

Asked about the fight being described as dull by fans and former fighters on social media, Usman told a post-fight media conference: "There was a time when people started hating Floyd Mayweather because he was so dominant, because his defence was so good, he was just so good at what he did to where everyone is like 'oh that's boring' because people want to see a bar fight.

"We're risking our lives in there. What's the point of training each and every day and going in there and just slugging around and taking punches?

"You train to be able to make to someone miss, to be able to control them in a certain way. That's what training is for, so you're not just taking punishment at will and I do that better than anybody.

UFC 251: Usman dominates Masvidal to defend welterweight titleUFC 251: Usman dominates Masvidal to defend welterweight title

"They can say whatever they want but come share the octagon with Jorge Masvidal for 25 minutes and let's see what you want to say."

Masvidal stepped in as a late replacement for Gilbert Burns, who had tested positive for coronavirus, giving Usman under a week to prepare for a new opponent.

Despite the one-sided nature of his victory, Usman is keen to take on Masvidal again.

He said: "We both feel that we'll do [it] again, I would like a lot more time to prepare for a guy like that and be able to dominate in the way that I want to, picking my spots and trying to get that finish.

"I would love to do that fight again. You've seen my last couple of fights: I like to pick my spots, I like to really pick a guy apart, I've evolved so much but I've still got tools in the tool shed.

Israel Adesanya, Jorge Masvidal revealed as official cover duo for EA Sports UFC 4Israel Adesanya, Jorge Masvidal revealed as official cover duo for EA Sports UFC 4

"I need to showcase a lot more of what I have in the toolbox. I would love to do that with a lot more time.

"In this division, there's no shortage of contenders: Leon Edwards is there, Gilbert had an amazing year, he's there, Cody [Garbrandt] thinks he's there... there's no shortage of challengers.

"There's always going to be a challenger and they're always going to throw somebody in there with me."

Story first published: Sunday, July 12, 2020, 14:53 [IST]
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