Hailing from Nigeria and brought up in the United States, Kamaru Usman has achieved what only a few can boast about. The 35-year-old has cemented himself as one of the UFC‘s welterweight GOATS, with many putting him above GSP on their list. However, throughout the years, his journey has been nothing short of accolades and controversies alike.
During his journey as an MMA fighter, Usman has seemed to have made new enemies along the way, Dricus Du Plessis being one of them. The South African middleweight recently received a lot of heat from ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and Israel Adesanya after questioning the duo’s African roots. He first spoke about Dricus at the UFC 286 media scrum.
When asked about Dricus Du Plessis’ comments, Usman said, “The one thing I think he’s failing to realize is just because I go to China and my parents are in China, I’m raised in China, doesn’t make me more Chinese than people from China…just because you went over to South Africa doesn’t make you African.”
The above-mentioned comments garnered mixed reactions from fans at the time. Many pointed to the fact that Kamaru Usman himself hails from Nigeria and not the States. To add salt to the injury, a resurfaced clip from 2019 has now put the Texas resident under the microscope.
After his spectacular win over Colby Covington at UFC 245, Kamaru appeared at the post-fight presser. While speaking about his recent finish, Kamaru went on to seemingly dig his own grave. A journalist asked him about the “USA” chants during his bout. Usman retorted, “It’s for me too, what are you talking about? They were chanting ‘USA’ for me, let’s be honest. I’ve said it time and time again, I’m more American than him.”
The 35-year-old continued, “I’m what it means to be an American. I’m an immigrant that came here and worked my a** off tirelessly to get to the top. and so that’s what it means to be an American.”
Fans grill Kamaru Usman for his hypocritical statements
Fans might have not made much of it at the time when Kamaru made those comments. However, since he voiced his disdain toward Dricus Du Plessis recently, the clip has now returned to bite him back. Fans and critics alike are referring to Usman as hypocritical. Fans believe Usman doesn’t have the right to question Dricus’ African roots when he himself claims to be “more American” than a fellow American athlete (Colby Covington, in this case).
For fans unaware, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ was actually born in the city of Benin, Nigeria. At the young age of eight, he moved to the United States and relocated to Texas. Due to his father’s involvement in the US military, the rest of Usman’s childhood was spent in Arlington, Texas.
Here are some fan reactions on the matter:
“The fact that Marty thinks he can pick and chose who’s African and who’s American just shows how big his ego is. So glad that Leon sent him to the shadow realm.”
“We all know they mean if you aren’t black you aren’t African. Just own it, you’re a fighter not a politician.”
“its really just their insecurity knowing they dont have a real identity except for what suits them in the moment”
“Wild how the scripts have been flipped these days. Jizzy and Marty are unreal”