UFC 251: Kamaru Usman sad his father won’t see him ‘break’ Jorge Masvidal ‘internally’
- UFC 251 will be bittersweet for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, whose father – released from jail earlier this year – will not be cageside
- ‘It would’ve meant a lot if he was there with me. This was the culmination of everything I’ve done,’ says Usman
Fighting in an empty arena on Sunday will be bittersweet for Kamaru Usman. While he feels it will help him “break” Jorge Masvidal “internally”, he wanted his previously incarcerated father to watch him live for the first time.
UFC welterweight champion Usman’s father Muhammed was released from Seagoville prison in Texas in February after serving most of his 180-month sentence for health care fraud, according to ESPN. He had been watching “The Nigerian Nightmare” fight on “basic cable” in jail.
“Pre-Covid-19 pandemic, this was the culmination of everything I’ve done. This was the moment my father was able to be cageside to watch his son who had worked to be on the centre stage of the world. It’s good that he’s able to watch it at home live on pay-per-view, but it would have meant a lot if he was there with me,” the 33-year-old Nigerian-American (16-1) said at the UFC virtual media day on Thursday.
Usman, who defends his title against late-replacement Masvidal (35-13) at UFC 251 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, had previously said he wanted to “hear each shot land” as opposed to getting overhyped by the crowd.
“There’s a different fight that you fight with yourself that … sometimes can get lost in a stadium of 20,000 people. It can uplift you or be a detriment. But now you’ve got a guy beating your ass and talking to you, letting him know his dominance over you. It’s another level of breaking someone mentally.