KAMARU USMAN was moved to tears after winning his do-or-die octagon return.
The former welterweight and pound-for-pound king returned to the cage for the first time in 20 months early this morning in the main event of UFC Atlanta against Jaoquin Buckley.
GETTYKamaru Usman returned to the octagon against Jaoquin Buckley at UFC Atanta[/caption]
GETTYThe fomer welterweight king rolled back the year to return to the win column[/caption]
UFCUsman, 38, cut an emotional figure after picking up his first win in nearly four years[/caption]
UFCThe Nigerian Nightmare broken down in tears in his post-fight interview[/caption]
There were serious concerns that Usman’s time at the top was a thing of the past following three straight losses to Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.
But the 38-year-old rolled back the years with a suffocating display across five rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory courtesy of 49–46, 49–46, 48–47 scorecards.
An emotional Usman teared up in his post-fight interview as he said: “It’s been a while. I needed to get that monkey off my back.
“I know I’m still able to do this at the highest level.
“Sometimes when you’re going up against a young, hungry guy like that, very talented, very aggressive, you’ve got to pull out the skills and use your experience.
“And that’s what I did tonight.”
Usman insists victory over the surging Buckley has shown his detractors he’s still very much at the top of his game.
He said: “I know it’s a running joke, everybody wants to get on the internet and talk s***, ‘Oh, his knees, his knees.’
GETTYKamaru Usman has called his shot at becoming a two-time welterweight champion[/caption]
“Well, shut the f*** up, I can still do what I do.
“I could do that to anybody [in the welterweight division], any one of them.
“But like I said, I needed to get that monkey off my back.
“Early on in my career as I was rolling, once I had that monkey off my back and I knew I was rolling, I was able to open up.
“And you guys saw those spectacular knockouts. I still got them in there.”
Following his dominant return to the win column, Usman has set his sights on becoming a two-time king of the welterweights.
He roared: “I have been, and always will be, the f**king boogeyman.”
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