Former UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, makes his Octagon return this weekend against red-hot striking sensation, Joaquin Buckley, atop the UFC Atlanta fight card on ESPN from inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
A loss to “New Mansa” would mark the fourth straight for the 38 year-old “Nigerian Nightmare” and represents a 55-percent chance that he retires following event. That’s according to the pre-fight number crunchers at BetIdeas.com.
Retirement would bring an end to this “blockbuster” fight.
“There’s no doubt Kamaru Usman will go down as one of the best fighters in UFC history but he is currently on a three-fight losing streak and with the toll injuries have taken, it appears likely will only get worse from this point on,” said BetIdeas.com spokesman Steven McQuillan. “There’s a chance that a healthy Usman beats Buckley this weekend but if it’s a one-sided loss, it looks unlikely that he will continue given the lack of championship fighting he will be doing.”
Here are the odds Usman (and two others) hang ‘em up after UFC Atlanta.
Kamaru Usman -120
Cody Garbrandt +400
Rose Namajunas +800
Garbrandt more likely to retire than Namajunas.
“Cody Garbrandt put the world on notice with his performance against Dominick Cruz, but since then, the hype has fallen off a cliff, and it looks like we won’t see ‘No Love’ fight for a belt anytime soon,” McQuillan added. “Another loss would be his seventh in the UFC and his future would look pretty bleak.”
We’ll find out in just over 24 hours.
LIVE! Stream UFC Atlanta On ESPN+
WELTERWEIGHT CROSSROADS! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) crashes State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sat., June 14, 2025, with UFC Atlanta. Former 170-pound champion, Kamaru Usman, collides with fast-rising knockout artist, Joaquin Buckley, in a blistering main event mashup scheduled for five, five-minute rounds. In UFC Atlanta’s co-main event, former strawweight titleholder, Rose Namajunas, locks horns with grizzled 125-pound veteran, Miranda Maverick, setting the stage for an explosive showdown in the women’s flyweight division.
Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Atlanta fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card matches at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining UFC Atlanta main card balance on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Atlanta news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Usman vs. Buckley” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.
