UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman says he "shattered" his nose in sparring just two weeks before defending his 170-pound title against Jorge Masvidal in July.
Usman (17-1) is scheduled to make his third title defense next month, against Gilbert Burns (19-3) at UFC 258 on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas. The matchup was originally supposed to take place at UFC 251 in July; however Burns withdrew at the last minute due to a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by Masvidal on six days' notice.
Shortly after Usman defeated Masvidal via unanimous decision, ESPN reported the champion had been placed on a 180-day medical suspension for a potentially broken nose. The news was surprising, in that Usman did not appear to take much damage in the five-round fight. In an interview this week, Usman revealed he suffered the injury before the fight.
"Two weeks before, shattered," Usman told ESPN. "A lot of people haven't dealt with a broken nose. When anything comes close to your face, you're trying to defend and not get that nose hit. There are a couple of guys here [in Usman's camp in Denver] who hit pretty hard. We can blame that one on Carrington Banks and [UFC lightweight] Justin Gaethje."
Usman's performance against Masvidal was met with some criticism, as he leaned heavily on his amateur wrestling background to neutralize Masvidal's offense. Usman said he was frustrated by the performance because he didn't get to show anything he had worked on.
Although he won the fight convincingly on all three judges' scorecards, Usman said he'd like to face Masvidal again in a different style of fight.
"I was unhappy because as much as I put into preparing for fights, I basically was just on autopilot that fight," Usman said. "A lot of things played a factor in that fight. ... I'm way better than that. I have way more tools and skills to display than what I showed, because out there, I beat him with stuff I've been doing for five years.
"It's me versus me out there. So, there's a potential of that fight happening again if he works himself there, but I want to do it again because I want to put an exclamation on it. I want to finish him. I want to impress myself."
Usman and Burns are former training partners at Sanford MMA in Florida. However, Usman has now spent back-to-back camps in Denver under head coach Trevor Wittman. Masvidal has not fought since the loss to Usman. UFC president Dana White has said he would like to book a fight between Masvidal and fellow former title challenger Colby Covington.