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Kamaru Usman: Nigerian Nightmare was living with his friend and expecting his daughter before ₦17M UFC breakthrough.
Professional mixed martial artist Kamarudeen Usman, a Nigerian-American, has described his meteoric rise to fame.
Following an appearance on a podcast, Usman, a former champion of the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has returned to social media.
The Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks, Athanasios Rotimi “Thanasis” Antetokounmpo, hosts the Thanalysis podcast, where the 36-year-old Usman discussed his circumstances prior to receiving a sizable payment and becoming a celebrity in the UFC.
Kamaru Usman on Nigerian Nightmare
In the first part of the podcast, Usman stated that a million naira reward was his breakthrough to getting things done in the UFC.
Usman explained the origin of his moniker, the Nigerian Nightmare, in the interview.
Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo, a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks, is the next Nigerian nightmare, according to Usman.
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Usman detailed the origins of the Nigerian Nightmare nickname on the Thanalysis podcast hosted by Thanasis” Antetokounmpo.
Kamaru Usman on first ₦1M
Usman discussed his ascent to prominence on the show, covering everything from training for the Olympics to switching to mixed martial arts.
In the second part of the podcast, Usman stated that a million naira reward was his breakthrough to getting things done in the UFC.
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Check out Kamaru Usman’s ‘Super Eagles’ themed jersey for Naija United that has gone viral.
Usman claims that after switching from wrestling to the UFC, he only earned $1,000.
Kamaru Usman details ₦17M and living with a friend while expecting a daughter
Usman stated that he then made the journey to the Ultimate Fighter show that could propel him to the UFC.
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Kamaru Usman and his daughter showed up to support Israel Mobolaji Adesanya.
He detailed making twenty thousand dollars for a fight and that helped him solve his issues at the time.
Usman stated that he was living with his friend and was expecting a daughter and the 17 million naira was what he needed to sort out his issues.
He added, “It was like okay you win this you get a contract with the UFC and now you could be making I think I was the contract would have been 10 and 10 I was making twenty thousand dollars a fight.
“If I win so I was like okay man I’m rich now you know so it’s just so crazy how life was working I was about to have my my daughter.
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According to Usman, following his switch from wrestling to the UFC, he made just one thousand dollars.
“It was like boom you’re about to have a child you ain’t got no yeah you really got no money in my bank account at the time.”
“I was living with my friend at the time and saw boom got the contract I think within like three weeks, four weeks got the contract got to 20K which lasted me like two weeks because I had bills.
“Of course you gotta account for taxes too taxes yeah taxes coaching all of that and I had bills already stacked up and then my daughter’s first birthday was coming that
“I had to get us an apartment a place to live we got a townhouse like all of that boom boom boom boom within like two months got it all done like life’s kind of come together and then the whole time just still thinking
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Khamzat Chimaev sent a tweet with aggressive language that many in the mixed martial arts (MMA) community found to be directed towards Kamaru Usman.
Okay, how can I sustain this how can I get into something or keep doing this to where I can sustain and help my family forever.
“Because I’m still Nigerian now I still have a mom and dad which you know I have to be responsible for some day.”
After a second loss to Leon Edwards, Usman is reportedly in talks for a mega fight against Khamzat Chimaev.
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