"Everyone knew that I wanted to fight Makhachev, but at that time, things were moving very fast." Kamaru Usman's admission lifts the lid on the backroom manoeuvring inside the UFC, where the drive to book Islam Makhachev against Ilia Topuria quietly cost the veteran his shot at a title. The promotion grew so fixated on staging a super-fight between the Georgian "Matador" and Makhachev that every rival conversation slowly fizzled out.
Beyond the collapse of his own proposed bout with Makhachev, Usman opened up about the call he made once the UFC turned down the idea of matching him with the Dagestani.
With the talk around him drying up, he explained, he was left with little choice but to look elsewhere. "After that, I agreed to fight Du Plessis, because there was no other option," Usman said.
And so the veteran confirmed that his next assignment would be a meeting with Dricus du Plessis.
Yet the fight everyone truly wanted — Topuria against Makhachev — never materialised, and the two camps tell very different stories about why. Makhachev's side insist the Georgian champion asked for an unrealistic purse, while Topuria points the finger back, claiming his rival pulled out with a hand injury. The clash of versions only sharpens the intrigue between two men whose paths have, for now, split apart. Will the sport ever get to see these champions go to war, or is this a fight destined to remain unfinished business?
