Share
Peter Akinbo
Mohammed Usman, the younger brother of UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, handed his opponent a devastating knockout in his promotional debut and has received praises from his brother and UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
The heavyweight fighter landed a brutal punch to knock out Zac Pauga and become the new Ultimate Fighter champion.
UFC Vegas 59 on Saturday evening was extreme as the Mixed Martial Arts reality show gave a group of fighters the opportunity to win a UFC contract.
Before he progressed to the final, Mohammed Usman defeated Mitchell Stipe and Eduardo Perez by decisions, but he took his fate into his own hands at the UFC APEX facility on Saturday.
The 33-year-old landed a heavy left hook to send his opponent to the canvas and then followed up with a ground strike that sent Pauga into unconsciousness and officially ended the contest.
Kamaru said of his brother post-fight, “He’s doing it. This is his moment. A new Ultimate Fighter, first brothers to do it in history.”
Heavyweight champion Ngannou immediately took to his Twitter congratulating Mohammed and also revealing he wouldn’t relish going one-on-one with him.
“A new contender was born in the heavyweight division and personally I want no business with this man. Congrats brother @Umohammed97,” he wrote.
With this victory, Mohammed set a record of eight wins and two losses, and with this, he also won a contract with the UFC.
Big brother Kamaru inspired his decision to pursue MMA in 2017.
After the victory, Mohammed said, “I had to put the work in to get here. Fighting is fighting. It’s not, ‘Oh, Kamaru’s your brother. Now let’s just push you up here. You’re in the “Ultimate Fighter” finale; you don’t have to fight these two hard monsters that are coming in at 265 pounds to be here.
“Everything about fighting is yourself. That’s why I love it so much, because as much as people speak about my brother, I’m still the one that has to go out there and compete and have to fight and have to win for you guys to even be up here and talk crap to me and tell me about my brother. If I don’t win, I’m not even getting up here and looking at you guys.”
Mohammed finished Pauga with a counter-left hook, and this was just his UFC debut, he will now continue his career in the heavyweight division.
