Kamaru Usman Overcame Adversity to Beat Damian Maia in Santago, Chile, With Not One But TWO Broken Hands…
Kamaru Usman is one of the scariest fighters on the planet right now. So scary that he’s struggled to find higher-ranked fighters willing to fight him. Well, that changed last night in Santiago, Chile, when the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ took on Damian Maia. UFC Fight Night Chile took place in the capital’s Movistar Arena.
Usman came into this fight off the back of grinding out a dominant but boring decision win over Emil Meek. He received a lot of criticism for saying he only fought at 40% but later clarified that he wasn’t feeling healthy. This fight against Maia was his chance to prove just high his ceiling really is.
There’s just one problem. It’s really difficult to look good against Damian Maia, even if you win every round. Ask welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley. Yes, you’ll move up the ranks, but you’re not going to win any more fans. It’s a Catch-22 situation.
Dominant
Usman dominated this fight without looking spectacular. Maia has arguably the best jiu-jitsu in the entire UFC, so he’s always dangerous. The first and second rounds saw a slow-paced kickboxing match take off. The fight went to the ground a couple of times but neither fighter was really able to put the other in danger.
Three and four saw the pace upped a little bit. Usman landed some kicks and punches in the third and looked more fluid in his striking. Maia went to ground and lay on his back before the referee stood him up.
In round four, the Brazilian ate a straight hand as soon as the bout started. He was dropped and spent much of the round getting punched in the head from a headlock position. The final round saw Usman step the pace up again but being tentative enough not to risk getting caught by some crazy submission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOJpAaxAT5k
Broken Hands
Ok, let’s not pretend it was the most amazing fight in the world. It wasn’t. But once again, Usman had a reason for his less than explosive performance. Sure, he was very tactical and clever, but it wasn’t pretty. He explained:
“No exuses but I think I broke my right hand in the second. I wasn’t letting it go as much. And I broke the left one in the third.”
If that is true, then that’s a pretty badass reason not to be able to hit someone as hard as you’d like.
Next Up
The picture is very different for these two fighters. Maia has dropped three losses in a row for the first time in his career. That title shot against Tyron Woodley feels a long time ago now. Meanwhile, Usman extends his winning run to 12 in a row.
“You know what?” Usman said in his postfight interview. “I’m tired of calling people out and not getting what I ask for. So you know what? I’m not calling nobody out. They need to come fight me.”
Who should the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ fight next?
