Kamaru Usman

The welterweight champion

Kamaru "The Nigerian Nightmare" Usman held the UFC welterweight title from March 2019 to August 2022 — a three-and-a-half-year reign that included five title defenses (Colby Covington twice, Jorge Masvidal twice, and Gilbert Burns). His record stands at 20-4 after the Leon Edwards trilogy ended his championship era. Notable losses to Leon Edwards (UFC 278 and UFC 286), Khamzat Chimaev (UFC 294, middleweight short-notice bout), and Joaquin Buckley (the late-career UFC Fight Night bout in November 2024).

His résumé before the title reign included wins over Demian Maia, Rafael dos Anjos (UFC 279, the title eliminator), and the welterweight contender bracket. The TUF 21 (Team American Top Team) tournament win in 2015 launched his UFC career.

The wrestling foundation

Usman was born in Auchi, Nigeria in 1987 and moved to the United States at age 8. He wrestled at Nebraska-Kearney (NCAA Division II national champion at 174 lbs in 2010) before transitioning to MMA at age 24. The wrestling foundation translated directly into MMA — the fence-pressure system, the body-lock takedowns, and the top-position control that defined his welterweight title reign.

The Trevor Wittman system

The most distinctive technical evolution of Usman's career was the transition from American Top Team in Florida (where he won the TUF tournament) to Trevor Wittman's Onnit Gym in Denver, Colorado. The move in 2020 changed his striking. Wittman's system emphasizes lead-hand control, technical boxing fundamentals, and the development of one-shot striking power within a wrestling-first game plan.

The signature evolution: the KO of Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 in April 2021 (round 2 right-hand counter) was the moment the broader MMA public realized Usman had developed legitimate KO power. The previous bracket of fence-pressure decision wins gave way to a complete-striker title reign.

The Colby Covington rivalry

The Usman-Covington bouts (UFC 245, December 2019; UFC 268, November 2021) framed the welterweight division for three years. UFC 245 was a five-round war that Usman won by TKO at 4:10 of round 5 — Covington's broken jaw from an Usman strike in round 3 contributed to the late-round finish. The UFC 268 rematch went the distance in a five-round unanimous decision (49-46 × 2, 50-45) for Usman.

The personal animosity between the two — going back to their TUF coaching cycle and Covington's American Top Team-vs-Onnit rivalry — produced the most-promoted welterweight matchup of the 2019-2021 stretch.

The Jorge Masvidal bouts

The two Masvidal bouts (UFC 251, July 2020; UFC 261, April 2021) had distinct technical narratives. UFC 251 was a short-notice replacement bout (Masvidal took the fight on 6 days' notice for Gilbert Burns); Usman won a five-round unanimous decision (50-45 × 3). UFC 261 was the full-camp rematch; Usman KO'd Masvidal with a right hand counter in round 2 — the most decisive single-punch finish of his career.

The finish was an inflection point in the welterweight division: Usman's striking had developed past the level Masvidal could match.

The Leon Edwards trilogy

The defining matchup of Usman's career was the Leon Edwards trilogy:

• UFC on Fox 17 (December 2015): Usman won by unanimous decision in their first bout, a non-title contender match.
• UFC 278 (August 2022): Leon Edwards KO'd Usman with a head kick at 4:04 of round 5 — one of the great come-from-behind finishes in title-fight history. Edwards was losing on all three judges' scorecards going into the final round.
• UFC 286 (March 2023): Edwards won the immediate rematch by majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47) in a closely-contested five-round bout.

The trilogy ended Usman's championship era and produced the most consequential title-change since the Adesanya-Whittaker era at middleweight.

The Khamzat Chimaev bout

The October 2023 UFC 294 bout against Khamzat Chimaev was a short-notice middleweight bout (Usman stepped in for an injured Paulo Costa at one week notice). Chimaev won a majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28). The bout demonstrated Usman could competitively engage a top middleweight wrestler at higher weight on minimal preparation — the result was respectable for the conditions but ended his pound-for-pound case.

The late-career and the Buckley loss

The November 2024 loss to Joaquin Buckley (TKO via strikes in round 5 at UFC Fight Night 248) was Usman's first KO/TKO loss in his career. The result was widely interpreted as the end of his championship-eligibility window — the chin and recovery that had survived the Edwards KO in 2022 didn't survive the Buckley exchange two years later.

The legacy

Usman's case for the all-time welterweight elite is the five-title-defense run (the longest of any modern welterweight champion before the Islam Makhachev-equivalent reign at lightweight), the wins over Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in multiple bouts each, and the Trevor Wittman striking evolution that produced the Masvidal KO.

The Edwards trilogy losses don't materially diminish the peak. Usman from 2019 to early 2022 was the most-defended welterweight champion in UFC history outside of Georges St-Pierre.