Kamaru Usman says he is seriously considering his fighting future after dropping a unanimous decision to Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 281 in Oklahoma City.
The bout marked Usman’s return to the middleweight division, but the former UFC welterweight champion left unsure if he will continue competing. Usman, now 21-5 in MMA and 16-4 in the UFC, is 1-4 in his last four outings.
"Right now, I have to sit with the coaches and the team and assess kind of everything and the place where I'm at in my career and, all in all, see if it's worth continuing to do this, whether it's worth continuing to put them through that," Usman said.
Reflecting on his recent run, including a short-notice fight against Khamzat Chimaev and his trilogy with Leon Edwards, Usman added: "The Khamzat (Chimaev) fight was like, 'OK, I took that on a week's notice, and if I would've had two more rounds, who knows what else could've happened.' The Leon (Edwards), I think I represented myself well until I got the last minute take that kick to the head, and in the third Leon fight, I probably shouldn't have been there, but I pushed it. I was like, 'You know what? I'm hardheaded, and I'm going to go in.' Halfway through that fight, I found myself again, so there was something to build off in those fights. This one was like, to the untrained eye, it looked like I bit off more than I could chew or something like that. It's just a fair, honest assessment, even though I don't feel that inside, it looked that way, and I don't like that. I really have to go back, sit with the family and the team, assess, and decide."
