Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman lost his third consecutive UFC fight after Swede Khamzat Chimaev got the better of him via unanimous decision at UFC 294 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Kamaru Usman took the fight against Chimaev on a 10-day notice after Brazilian Paulo Costa pulled out after failing to fully recover from an arm injury that took several surgeries.
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The 36-year-old had lost back-to-back title fights against Brit Leon Edwards in the welterweight division and had to move up to the middleweight to face Chimaev in a there-rounder. The judges scored the fight 29-27, 28-28, and 29-27 in favour of Chimaev.
The unbeaten Swede dominated Usman for the larger part of the fight on the floor winning the wrestling and grappling battle. Chimaev also landed a couple of shots that hurt Usman, however, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ also landed a couple of significant shots that troubled the Swede in the last round.
The future is currently uncertain for Kamaru Usman in the UFC after three consecutive losses. His compatriot and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had recently announced that he would be taking a long break away from the sport to heal after his title loss to Sean Strickland.
