Similar to Khabib, Kamaru Usman has faced and beaten the best in the divison. He is a nightmare matchup to fight against, he has beaten Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. Although it was long ago, he also has a win with number 3 contender, Leon Edwards. Some fans think he will reign the welterweight division for a long time.
The closest person to beating Usman was Covington but he ironically he got knocked out in the fifth round. When they fought, neither fighter used their wrestling and chose to strike. It was even in all scorecards up until the fifth round where Usman got a finish.
Usman is known for his intense pressure in the grappling section where his past opponents have no answer to his wrestling, other than Colby. Some say that his style is boring since he stalls time during fights but at the end of the day he still ends up getting his hand raised. He also has great endurance given how big he is and his style of endless pressure.
Due to his high level wrestling, they say that his striking is his flaws but that is not true. Usman has underrated striking, that is decent for an MMA fighter. He may not have the best striking but it still able to clip and set up his takedowns which is good enough to be dominant in most of his fights.
Kamaru Usman is now scheduled to face Gilbert Burns who is also his former teammate. Burns thinks that he knows Usman’s weakness since they have sparred countless times in the past. Burns thinks that Usman can not fight his best when he is fighting going backwards, so expect Burns to put on the pressure to win the fight.
Another weakness that Usman has according to Burns is his BJJ. He has said that Usman is not good in fighting off his back. His ground game is excellent when he is on top but when he is off his back he may be in trouble. Gilbert Burns is a second degree black belt so his grappling is more than decent. The question is, will he be able to take down Kamaru Usman.
If we compare both fighters, many would agree that Burns has better striking if we base their past fights so if they keep it standing up Burns might have the upper hand and likely getting the nod. But it also worth noting that Usman is training under Trevor Wittman who is known to be a world class striking coach. Usman might surprise everyone with his evolved striking.
Gilbert Burns has shown to have improved tremendously and deserves to fight for the title as well. He has beaten Tyron Woodley dominantly and knocked out Demian Maia. He certainly has the tools to beat Usman, but Usman has also looked unbeatable in his past fights. Will we see Burns getting the belt or is still the Usman era?
