‘Nothing special’ - Masvidal says Usman isn’t a ‘legit striker’
Jorge Masvidal gives his take on Kamaru Usman’s striking skills.
Since becoming a UFC champion, Kamaru Usman has become a more well-rounded fighter. Thanks to the tutelage of the great Trevor Wittman, “The Nigerian Nightmare” has so far shown improvements on his stand-up game, and his three recent knockout and TKO wins are strong enough testaments to it.
But according to his former challenger Jorge Masvidal, Usman’s is “nothing special on the feet.”
“I know he’s beatable. There’s not a man alive that isn’t beatable. Taking the second round (of the rematch at UFC 261) out of it, the first round after I got up, I started landing some big shots on him,” Masvidal said in his recent appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast.
“The first thing I threw, he took me down, but the second, I hit him right here in the chest. And my thigh hit him in the jaw, wobbled him a little bit.
“On the feet, he’s nothing special. He might’ve got me, but he’s nothing special on the feet. He’s not a legit striker on the feet yet.”
“Gamebred” did admit to his biggest weakness, which he plans to take more seriously at this point in his career.
“Same thing with him, that’s the Colby problem. Same thing: wrestling. The first fight, he just put me up against the fence, and I wasn’t able to f—ng let go,” Masvidal explained.
“The second fight, I’m thinking, ‘it’s the takedown, it’s the takedown.’ I was doing well stuffing the takedowns, then boom. He switched it up on me.
“So I definitely feel the problem I had, the consistent problem I had throughout my career is my wrestling is not a hundred percent there yet. It’s pretty damn good, it’s a lot better than when I f—ng first started.
“And shit, I got another two, three years in this sport. Why not give everything I got into this wrestling shit and see what comes out of it?”
The 37-year-old Masvidal (35-16) is currently on a three-fight losing skid, most recently against Colby Covington at UFC 272. He is also facing an aggravated battery charge for his alleged involvement in a physical altercation with Covington outside a Miami steakhouse in late March.