{"id":278455,"date":"2025-11-12T15:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278455\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:30:15","slug":"kamaru-usman-responds-to-islams-blockbuster-callout-ahead-of-ufc-322","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278455\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman responds to Islam\u2019s \u2018blockbuster\u2019 callout ahead of UFC 322"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI made it clear what I want is that title back. That\u2019s where I rightfully belong,\u201d Usman told MMA Fighting<\/a>. \u201cI think [with me and Islam] it\u2019s obviously both former pound-for-pound [No. 1 ranked fighters], I don\u2019t think in history it\u2019s ever happened where they go at it. So I think that\u2019s a humongous fight. I love Islam. This isn\u2019t one of those situations where we\u2019re coming in and I hate your uncles or I hate you. It\u2019s pure competition of the best of the best. I think it\u2019s the biggest for sure. You want one of those fights. You want one of those fights that really elevates the division. That really puts the division on the forefront when everyone knows there\u2019s a welterweight matchup coming up, everyone pays attention. I think this is that fight, myself and Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, myself and JDM as well, that\u2019s a big fight for the new guard going up against the old guard,\u201d Usman said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a big fight as well. But I just think that we\u2019ve never seen two pound-for-pound fighters going in there and duke it out, I think that right there\u2019s a blockbuster, and I think it\u2019s definitely close to the top. I\u2019m not sitting here [saying] I just want Islam. No, I want the title and right now the two guys that happen to be fighting for that title are Islam and Jack. Whoever that person is, is the fight that I want. Obviously if it\u2019s Jack, the old guard versus the new guard, it\u2019s also still a contrast in styles. Yes, I want that fight, but if it\u2019s Islam, that sells itself. Take my money now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winner of this fight<\/a> may have something to say about that.<\/p>\n

MMAmania.com<\/a> will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 322 fight card on fight night, starting with the early ESPN+<\/a> preliminary card matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the UFC 322 featured \u201cPrelims\u201d at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNews and ESPN+<\/a>, leading into the UFC 322 main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+<\/a> PPV.<\/p>\n

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 322: \u201cDella Maddalena vs. Makhachev\u201d news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here<\/a>. For the updated and finalized UFC 322 fight card and PPV lineup click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI made it clear what I want is that title back. That\u2019s where I rightfully belong,\u201d Usman told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,127022,33601,638,109794,82,127021,702,4454],"class_list":["post-278455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-jack-della-vs-islam-start-time","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-preview-and-live-results","tag-sports","tag-ufc-322-fight-card","tag-ufc-news","tag-upcoming-ufc-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}