Kamaru Usman: Neusroom’s 10 Facts About ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Making Waves In The UFC

Kamaru Usman, the Nigerian-American mixed martial artist and current Welterweight Champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), never fails to take any opportunity to show off his Nigerian roots. Despite migrating out of Nigeria at a very young age, Kamaru is known to always promote Nigeria on the world stage. In one of those instances, he decided to use Burna Boy’s song “Anybody” as his walk-out intro for his title defence against Colby Covington on December 14, 2019.

Recently, he shared a video on Twitter dancing with his daughter, Samirah to local songs just to further show how deep and connected he is with the local culture. And Nigeria never hesitates to return the love.

Here are ten facts about the current UFC Welterweight Champion, compiled by Neusroom’s Olusegun Giwa.

1. 33-year-old Kamaru was born in Auchi, Edo State. His father was a soldier while his mother was a teacher.
2. Kamaru and his family left Nigeria for the United States when he was eight years old.
3. He started wrestling in high school and later made his professional MMA debut in November 2012.
4. Kamaru Usman first won the welterweight title belt in 2019 against Tyron Woodley.
5. Kamaru is the first Nigerian champion in UFC history.
6. As of July 14, 2020, He is ranked number 5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
7. Kamaru has competed 18 times in the UFC, that is, he has lost just one of his 18 professional fights and won 17, including 7 knocked out.
8. According to Essentiallysports, Kamaru has totaled more than $2.5 million in career earnings.
9. Kamaru has two brothers, Kashetu, a footballer and Mohammed, who is a mixed martial artist.
10. Kamaru is the second Nigerian to adopt the nickname “The Nigerian Nightmare” after the former NFL Star, Christian Okoye.