Rising UFC welterweight Kamaru Usman is in a unique situation. The fighter is on a ten fight winning streak, with six of those victories coming out of the UFC. Most recently, Usman earned a dominant first round knockout win over Sergio Moraes at UFC Fight Night 116.
Being on a dominant hot streak in the world’s most famous MMA promotion, Kamaru Usman has found himself on the cusp of stardom. Still, Usman believes he is not being properly promoted because of his nationality.
In a recent interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Kamaru Usman explained that he does not believe the UFC is promoting him because the promotion does not have a TV deal in his home country of Nigeria.
Speaking on the matter, Usman said,
“I’ve been ready for that. I don’t know if they think, ‘Well, he’s from Nigeria and we haven’t really broken into that market yet, so we can’t really sell a lot of fights there or we don’t have a TV contract there so what’s the point of pushing a guy that’s from that area in Africa.”
Elaborating on his point, Usman continued:
“I’d like to think that’s what it is because it can’t be anything else. You can’t say that I don’t have the skills, you can’t say that. I have the skills. You can’t say I don’t have the confidence, because I have that. You can’t say I don’t have the belief, because I have that.”
Finishing his thoughts on the matter, Usman added:
“I’m not the ugliest guy in the world, it’s not that I’m not marketable. I mean, come on, it makes no sense as to why they are not doing except for, ‘Oh well we haven’t broken into Africa, so there is no point in pushing someone from there.’”
