Kamaru Usman Teases Retirement Ahead Of UFC 261: "I Know That I Can't Do This Forever"

UFC welterweight Kamaru Usman is looking towards life after fighting already ahead of his UFC 261 title rematch with Jorge Masvidal this Saturday night.

Usman was speaking with MMAFighting's Damon Martin and mentioned how that while he is excited for the rematch with one of his rivals in Masvidal, he's starting to understand that the motivation to continue the grind of what it takes to become a world champion will start to wear on him.

“Being a realist, and I’m honest with myself, and I know that I can’t do this forever, and I don’t want to do this forever,” Usman said (h/t MMANews) “Like I said, we’re on a track right now, and I’m just so far ahead of these guys that I’m coming back around and I’m lapping them now. Talking to some of my mentors and some of the greats that have done this, what they’re telling me is that, at some point, it’s gonna start to…that waking up in the morning and heading to the gym to put in daily work is gonna start to get heavier and heavier when nothing really motivates me like that anymore. So this one, like I said, I’m motivated because I didn’t feel like I got that fix. I still have that feeling in me. And so I want to go out there and get this one. But after this one, we have to take a really hard look and see what there is out there for me because it’s not these guys. So whether it’s crossing over and doing something else or maybe walking away, you never know.”

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