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Excuse-free Kamaru Usman reveals he fought Dricus du Plessis with torn pec, questions retirement I have to sit with the team
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 13: Kamaru Usman of Nigeria is seen backstage during the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at State Farm Arena on June 13, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)Hangin em up?Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss to former Middleweight roost-ruler Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City last weekend (Sat., July 18, 2026) inside Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.While Usman had a strong fifth round, the former Welterweight champion was not very competitive with Du Plessis for most of the fight. He was rocked several times, struggled to close distance and was unable to consistently take the South African down to implement his wrestling game.As it turns out, there may have been a pretty significant reason for that.Usman was apparently compromised.During the latest episode of his Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usmans co-host, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo, revealed that The Nigerian Nightmare fought Du Plessis with a torn pec.And Cejudo was not happy that Usman took the fight.A lot of people dont know this, but you fought with a torn pec, Cejudo said. And I didnt like this from the beginning. I dont like you taking this fight because if youre fking fighting with one pec, Kamaru, thats different, man.A lot of people were giving you a lot of st because DDP was stopping your takedowns, Cejudo continued. But how can you get to those positions when you dont have a fking pec? I got your back on this one, Kamaru.Usman, however, did not want to lean on the injury as an excuse.I understand that, Henry, but it is what it is, Usman said. We roll the dice every time, so there are no excuses. We roll the dice, and sometimes it works out, and no one ever finds out. But this time, it didnt work out. So its something I dont even want to bring up. To answer your question, yes, I am 100 percent a wrestler, and I wanted to utilize that.That makes the performance a little easier to understand, especially considering Usmans wrestling was supposed to be his clearest path to victory against Du Plessis.Instead, Stillknocks stuffed his attempts, hurt him on the feet and handed Usman another difficult loss.After the fight, Usman was noncommittal about his UFC future during the post-fight press conference, making it clear that he does not want to be one of those fighters who sticks around forever just to collect a paycheck.He is only interested in big opportunities.Now, he is opening the door a little wider to retirement.Listen, right now I just have to sit with the coaches, sit with the team, assess everything, assess the place where Im at in my career, Usman said. All in all, just see whether its worth continuing to do this, whether its worth continuing to put them through that because Ive never really gone out there and not represented them appropriately.Time will tell if Usman continues his historic career.The former Welterweight champion turned 39 years old in 2026 and has now lost four of his last five fights. Add in another serious injury, and it is fair to wonder how much longer The Nigerian Nightmare wants to keep doing this.For more UFC Oklahoma results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
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