INTERVIEW: I still feel fear each time I fight, says Kamaru Usman

When an eight-year-old Kamaru Usman left Nigeria for the United States in 1995, his young mind would never have conjured the fanfare that would herald his return to the country. He might have imagined the loving hands of members of his extended family patting his back, shoving for his suitcases, and tilting his head this way and that way to the amazement of how “the land of white man” has changed their once little Kamarudeen. He might have even pictured himself smiling while telling them he’s now a surgeon or a Wall Street lawyer or a certified engineer.

But reality has the story different and better for the Auchi-born go-getter.

When he returned to Nigeria 26 years later, it wasn’t with fancy certificates but a gilded belt whose shimmering tells the tales of several contenders that Kamaru has unseasonably whooped en route to becoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion. Instead of a handful of relatives welcoming him, he was hosted by the vice-president of the country. He dined with a minister of the federation and went on a boat cruise with a governor. He left the country a twinkling little star, came back a nebula: the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ considered one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world.

When TheCable’s IDRIS SHEHU met him at his hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, it was stunning to see such a prodigiously fierce fighter turn into a cool-headed young man, who, with jokes and stabs of pidgin English, discussed his upbringing, discovering wrestling, transitioning to mixed martial art and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects he plans to effect in Nigeria.

Over two decades and a half outside Nigeria, yet you haven’t lost touch with your Nigerian side, what kept you connected?

When you have a Nigerian father like mine, a former major in the army, and my mom, it’s just ingrained in you. So in our house, mainly we speak pidgin unless we have to speak English. Even before I left Nigeria for America, the culture was ingrained in me.

How did you convince your parents about a wrestling career?

When you’re from a Nigerian household, there’s only a couple of acceptable fields that you can go into: become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Those are the only acceptable fields you can get into as a Nigerian. But growing up overseas, I was exposed to a bit more. Of course, I still had to face my studies because ‘you’ll become a doctor someday‘. Then I found sports as an extracurricular activity on top of my studies and started to excel in that. The better you do that, the more your Nigerian parents realise that this can actually be sustainable. ‘Ha, my son, you can make money playing sports‘. Then they finally accepted. It took time but they finally got around to accepting.

How did you break the news to them?

They found out I was wrestling on TV. It was on TV. This is the thing that helped me in breaking the news to them and making it more acceptable.

How was the transition from wrestling to mixed martial arts? 

The transition from wrestling to mixed martial arts was tough. But at the same time as a mixed martial artist, you have to be able to do wrestling, boxing, kick-boxing, and jujutsu– all of the above. And wrestling, of all of those, is the hardest to learn. So once you already have that down it makes the rest a little bit easier so it makes that transition a lot faster as opposed to being a boxer and trying to learn wrestling — that takes a lot longer, it’s going to take a lot more time. But having been from a wrestling background, that journey was a lot shorter.

Do you still feel fear before your fights?

Yes, absolutely. Each time I fight, I still feel that fear; that never leaves you. It’s not something that’s completely natural to a person, it’s something that you train for and mentally prepare for. The fear is there each time but that’s part of having the courage to be able to get in there and still be able to do it.

With the recent success of Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou and yourself, UFC is under Africa’s domination. What will you say has fuelled the superiority?

I think it’s just our resilience and some of the backgrounds and circumstances that we come from. We have that never-die attitude. It is that resilience that we have that aids us when the times get tough in those fights. Where most people will give up and quit, we fight through that.

Will there ever be a face-off between the Nigerian Nightmare and Israel Adesanya? 

For me, in my perspective, it is a no. Because I always said I would rather have two Nigerians with belts than one Nigerian with two belts. I’m the type that likes to share. So the number of Nigerians I can get into the UFC to hold belts, the better. I don’t want to keep all the belts to myself; I’m not that greedy or selfish.

You’re the guy to beat at the UFC welterweight division, having knocked out or outwrestled anyone who ever dared to face you. Are there any plans to move up the division for more competition?

Yes of course I’ve been kind of dominating my own weight class, and I’ve beaten pretty much almost everyone in the top five. But a lot of people in that situation would ask if it’s time for you to move up from a different division. In most cases, I would move up, but the next division above happens to be the middleweight division where Israel Adesanya has the belt. So as long as Israel has that belt, I have no plans to move up. But if something happened and Israel was not in the picture, then of course I’ll move up and take the belt.

Let’s talk about your CSR project, what issues will the initiative be tackling? Will it be a foundation that focuses on building the next combat sports stars in Nigeria or some other humanitarian issue?

For me, part of my outreach and some of the things that I want is that I want it to be all of the above. I want to be able to give someone the opportunity to eventually follow those footsteps and say, ‘hey I want to be like this guy and follow his footsteps and be a champion someday.’ And, at the same time, we want to be able to help who we can along the way.

What’s your opinion about the depth of talents that Nigeria can mine for more success in mixed martial arts? 

Nigeria has talent. We are very athletic and resilient in a way, but as far as skill-wise, that is something that we have to learn. The sport is not that big yet and not everyone knows it or understands the skills needed. It’s something that we have to clear, but, of course, the talent is here.

Photo credit: Kamaru Usman/Instagram