Kamaru Usman was a guest on episode 341 of the PBD Podcast, where he, Patrick Bet-David, Adam Sosnick, and Vincent Oshana touched on several topics, including the limits of trash talk in MMA. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ specifically singled out Conor McGregor’s own trash-talking history.
The Irishman is one of MMA’s most renowned trash talkers, having taken aim at a multitude of fighters, whether they were scheduled to face him or not. While his entertaining fighting style always drew fan interest, a big part of his rise to fame was his trash talk, which in Usman’s opinion, McGregor took too far.
“When I’m dominating everyone, I’m not belittling them. I’m not, you know, saying this or saying that, you know? And McGregor was the same way. McGregor came out, well not the same way as me, but when he came out, he was doing the same things. He was there in the line. There wasn’t a line that McGregor wasn’t willing to cross, and we saw where that got him.”
Check out Kamaru Usman offering his thoughts (22:45) on Conor McGregor’s trash talk in the clip below:
Usman was likely referencing the two most well-known instances of McGregor taking his trash-talking too far; against Dustin Poirier and in his feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Irishman was far more malicious than usual, often making deeply personal remarks about both fighter’s lives, families, religions and cultures.
This is similar to Colby Covington’s recent attack on Leon Edwards’ late father at the UFC 296 pre-fight press conference, which drew near-universal condemnation in the MMA world.
Kamaru Usman’s recent rough patch
For most of his career, Kamaru Usman was nearly unbeatable, as he climbed to the top of the welterweight division and at one point, even held the number one pound for pound spot.
Unfortunately, things have now changed and Usman has found himself on a losing streak.
His sudden string of losses began after suffering back-to-back defeats to Leon Edwards, with the first loss being 2022’s Knockout of the Year. His third consecutive loss occurred on his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev, who edged ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ to a majority decision win.
It’s unclear if Usman will look to start fresh at 185 pounds, or pursue another title shot back down at 170.
