Top 77 Kamaru Usman Quotes

I can’t fight forever. Commentating is one of those major things that I definitely feel I want to do and can do.

I’ve already proved I have what it takes to be the champion. I’m right there.

You don’t ever want an African father to come to your school looking for you.

I got into this sport to make a statement.

Some guys just like being a fighter, and they live in that world, but I got into this to be champion.

I believe that I’m not just a fighter in this game; I love to study the sport. And in studying the sport, I believe I have a good eye for the sport, and I’m able to talk about the sport.

I’m a man on a mission.

A lot of people forget that Americans are immigrants. People are forgetting that, to where people have this attitude, ‘We’re Americans, go back to your country. Go back. This is a free country.’ I always heard that growing up. I always heard that.

I work with one of the best striking coaches in the world, Henri Hooft.

Wrestling definitely shaped the direction of my life because, before that, I wanted to fit in so much. I wanted to be one of the cool cats. I was friends with the captain of the football team because he had all the chicks. I wanted to be that guy.

My mind is strong.

The fight game has changed to where it’s no longer the toughest is fighting the toughest to be the best on the planet.

Once you have an opponent in your mind that you’re preparing for, you’re working on specifics, and you get guys in to mimic what they do.

The goal of this, I would like to think, for everybody, is to become champion.

When it comes down to digging, can’t nobody dig as hard as I can dig.

I recall the hard work that my family went through just to continue to live the lifestyle that we were living, which wasn’t by any means a great lifestyle.

As an African, there are certain professions your family want you to do or are willing to sign off. Being in the medical professional, as a doctor, pharmacist, a nurse, or being an engineer – those are the only professions allowed!

It’s one thing to get somebody down on the ground, but it’s another thing to finish him there.

Fighting is just something that’s gonna open doors for things to come in the future.

There was a time when guys just had a specialty, like boxer or wrestler or jiujitsu guy. Then came guys who could blend taking you down with also being able to kick your head off.

I’d like to think I’m a hybrid to where, if you had to pick, where would you say I’m weak? I can outwrestle guys; I can outgrapple guys. I can put your lights out, and I have a gas tank for days. I can do it all.

In my village where I’m from, there’s still not running water everywhere. People are still struggling to get clean water.

Crazy things happen in this sport, and you have to be ready. And for me, luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

I’m not the guy to call the cops.

I believe the UFC was sold based on their performance and the services they’ve provided, so if a company comes in and buys it, they just bought the blueprints of their success. I believe that WME-IMG bought the UFC because of its structure and success.

We didn’t have running water. We had to get water from wells, and there was a stint where I lived with my grandma where we had to get water, bring it over to the house. You had to boil the water because you never knew what parasites were in the water.

You never say never. That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned.

Once you sign a contract that states that you’re going to have to fight this other man for a substantial amount of money, things change psychologically.

Can’t nobody handle me.

I would love to fight a lot more often, but of course it’s the UFC, and whenever they feel that they have an opening, then they can put us in there because there’s so many fighters.

I believe in fate.

I study this sport.

My thing is, if you’re going to talk online, if you’re going to come at me with a certain energy, when you see me on-site, keep that certain energy. That’s it. That’s it. That’s all I am.

When you go to hotels, who are the maids who work at most of those hotels? A lot of them are immigrants. We take pride in that because we’re in a better place and want to provide for our families.

Once I go into these fights, and we have to go through the ringer to prepare for them, and we know I’m not 100 percent going in, winning is the most important thing, and dominating is the most important thing, and that’s what we’ve been doing.

You don’t have to be outlandish and saying crazy things and get out of yourself to get headlines or attention.

You can’t say I don’t have the confidence, because I have that.

For what we do training, as a fighter, you have to be able to flip that switch where you turn into that savage, that guy that’s prepared to go to war.

When you start out doing something, you never wonder how big is this going to be, or how will I be remembered, or will people even care for me.

I think Mike Perry is a guy the fans actually care about.

Once Africans realise we can just fight and get paid for it, we can do that and still provide for ourselves and our families and countries? We’re going to flood the market.

At the end of the day, I’m a professional.

Fighters no longer manage themselves: they have a whole team behind them. A fighter has a manager, an agent, a Hollywood agent – they got this and that. And on top of that, they’ve got their whole team of coaches.

I am what I am. I don’t regret anything.

In other countries, being from somewhere else is celebrated. But not in America.

You can’t say that I don’t have the skills. You can’t say that. I have the skills.

When I fought in The Ultimate Fighter Finale, I had microfracture surgery, and that’s usually eight month’s recovery turnaround. I had to fight three months after that, and I fought three months after that. And I had to train through that with that.

If fans are willing to pay to see you fight, the promoter is happy.

A lot of people are still suffering from water-borne diseases… We want to create something where we can make life better for everyone.

One of the hardest parts of this game, and what I don’t think people understand, is the mental side of it. They think, ‘Oh, he’s a big, stronger guy.’ But let me tell you, and I believe this without question: It’s not always the biggest, strongest, meanest, toughest-looking who gets the job done.

My parents didn’t want me to do this. My dad, when I told him I wanted to wrestle, he told me no, if you’re going to play any sports, play baseball.

You can’t out-wrestle me. You can’t out-strike me. You don’t have more power than me.

I’m the type of person who’s never said never.

Being able to open up and use my kick would make me so much more dangerous. It wouldn’t even be fair to use some of the weapons that we work on.

I’m not the ugliest guy in the world.

I believe that, just naturally, I’m a very soft-spoken person. Everyone tells me that on a daily basis – ‘Speak up, we can’t hear you,’ or ‘Elaborate on this.’ But that’s just how I am.

When I eventually get my hands on Covington, its more than just a fight: it symbolizes so many other things. It symbolizes the attitude toward immigrants in this country and around the world.

I’m a good, upstanding guy with moral values and core values.

Fans want to see a fight and be entertained.

I lived with my grandmother for a year when I was very young, and even to this day, when I tell my mother events that took place, she can’t believe that I can recall that far.

I love to study people, and that’s basically what sociology is.

I’m a people watcher, and I love to listen.

Can anyone tell me what Jon Jones was ranked when he fought for the UFC title? No one knows. I believe, in that aspect, it was easier to get fights back then. It wasn’t, ‘What’s this guy ranked?’ You fought, made your money, and went home.

Being a great physical athlete is wonderful, and you need it at this level to be able to train and prepare accordingly. But the closer it comes time to perform, the ratio switches. When you’re in camp, it’s 90 percent physical and 10 percent mental. But as you get to fight night, it’s the opposite.

I have an excellent team, a great manager, and we’re going to put something together: we’re going to start a foundation, and we’re going to change lives.

At the end of the day, my job is to win in impressive fashion.

One thing about me is that my parents didn’t force me to be an athlete.

I always envisioned hearing them say, ‘and new,’ and wrapping that belt around me and thinking of all the things I was fighting for.

Demian Maia, he’s a legend. He’s a veteran in the game. He knows how to fight. He’s been through so many five-round fights. He’s headlined a lot of cards, fought Anderson Silva for the title, fought Tyron Woodley for the title. He’s a veteran, he knows how to fight, and he’s always training. He’s a jiu-jitsu wizard.

Listen, anybody can put their head down and throw a haymaker and pray and hope it lands.

I want Dong Hyun Kim. He’s a grappler, he’s a strong stand-up fighter, and I think that would be a great fight. I think I beat him every and anywhere.