{"id":478354,"date":"2026-02-16T10:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478354\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:55:09","slug":"kamaru-usman-eyes-two-title-shots-in-2026-lays-out-massive-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478354\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman Eyes Two Title Shots In 2026, Lays Out Massive Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kamaru Usman<\/a> has big plans in 2026. The former UFC welterweight champion not only intends to recapture the title that he lost in 2022, but also wants to become a two-division UFC champion by dethroning middleweight kingpin Khamzat Chimaev<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Usman won the 170-pound strap in 2019 and held it until August 2022. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He defended it a total of five times before losing it to<\/a> Leon Edwards in a rematch at UFC 278.<\/p>\n

In 2023, at UFC 286, \u201cThe Nigerian Nightmare\u201d got a chance to run it back with Edwards a third time but failed to recapture the throne, losing by majority decision.<\/p>\n

Later that year, he moved up to middleweight to fight Khamzat Chimaev on 10 days\u2019 notice and once again suffered a loss by majority decision.<\/p>\n

Two years later, in 2025, Kamaru Usman returned to the octagon<\/a> at UFC Atlanta and delivered a dominant performance against Joaquin Buckley, snapping his losing skid with a unanimous decision victory.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nigerian Nightmare\u201d wants to fight reigning UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev next<\/a>, and Makhachev has also shown interest in locking horns with the former.<\/p>\n

Kamaru Usman plans to be a two-division UFC champ in 2026<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with UFC op Eurosport, when Kamaru Usman was asked about how he visualizes 2026 playing out for him, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201c2026, we want to say, wow, I can\u2019t believe you actually pulled that off and went and not only took one title but took two, and you walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that his primary objective is to recapture the UFC welterweight strap first : <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, welterweight first because I don\u2019t think the other one happens without the welterweight one, because it only makes sense. I\u2019m in this division. I\u2019m still there, so why not take that one first?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nigerian Nightmare\u201d thinks he is the \u201cbest test\u201d for Islam Makhachev<\/a>. He said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think myself and Islam, Islam is a phenomenal guy, phenomenal champion, what he\u2019s been able to do. I just think, as we know, styles make a fight. And I think I\u2019m the most difficult style for him right now, and I think I\u2019m the best test for him\u2026 I think that\u2019s a tremendous matchup. I love Islam, but I think I get that title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lastly, Kamaru Usman added that if he gets back the welterweight title this year, his next objective would be to rematch Khamzat Chimaev, this time with a full camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I get that [welterweight title], I think a lot of people wanted to see that rematch with Khamzat. I would love a full camp. It was too short, and I\u2019ve been accustomed to fighting five-round fights. If I were able to get that opportunity again and to actually prepare for a big, strong Khamzat, because Khamzat is extremely talented. He\u2019s done everything that was asked of him to do. So, he\u2019s a good champion, and I think, having given that opportunity again, I would approach that fight a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old wants to capture two UFC titles, join the list of two-division UFC champs, and then ride into the sunset.<\/p>\n

Check out Kamaru Usman\u2019s comments below (10:00):<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman has big plans in 2026. The former UFC welterweight champion not only intends to recapture the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":["post-478354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478354","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=478354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}