Kamaru Usman is preparing to battle Warlley Alves on the main card of UFC Fight Night 100, but after this fight with Alves, Usman has another opponent in mind.
“I want to make it a point in my career to kind of just stomp out all those ground guys and let them know that I am the best grappler in the division,” Usman told MMA Junkie. “A win here, I want Demian Maia. Demain Maia, I know he’s waiting for that title shot, but that’s a circus right now. You’ve got Woodley with three guys that he’s kind of interchanging with, but I know (Maia) doesn’t want to sit there for a year and wait for them, so you know what? I’ll be a tune-up for him, if he wants that, but that’s definitely who I want next.”
However, Usman cannot overlook the aforementioned Alves, who is trying to get back on track after a loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC 198.
“The problem is, he knows that I’m a big, strong guy, and I’m not a guy that you can just try to come in and run over,” Usman said. “I can wrestle for days. I can grapple for days. I can go for days. I’m not going to get tired. Hopefully he changes his approach, but if he doesn’t, it might be a short night for him.”
UFC Fight Night 100 takes place on Saturday, November 19 from the Ibirapueroa Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ryan Bader headlining.
