Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight king Kamaru Usman finally returns to action after a lengthy layoff against surging contender Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta this weekend (Sat., June 14, 2025) inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” is all about the idea of big “blockbuster” fights these days.
Recently, he revealed that he sees a potential fight with Islam Makhachev, who is now moving up to the Welterweight division, as a massive superfight and something he’s looking forward to.
But at UFC Atlanta’s media day, the 38-year-old unveiled a bolder vision: a second title and a historic Africa showdown with Middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis.
And the route to get there is easy in his eyes.
“My path there is pretty simple,” Usman told reporters. “I’ll just lay out the map here. I’ll finish Buckley this weekend and then wait for the winner of, I believe, Islam and JDM, which is going to be an incredible fight. It’s such a great thing now having Islam come up into the division. Who wouldn’t buy a ticket to that? Former pound-for-pound and current pound-for-pound. I love Islam. Islam is a great fighter. I think that’s something that we’d both remember forever.”
“Win [against Islam] and then go ahead and probably vacate, go up,” Usman continued. “Myself vs. Dricus Du Plessis, if he is the champion, orKhamzat Chimaev, too, if Dricus is no longer the champion, we do that. If Dricus is the champion, we do that in the first card in Africa. That’s another blockbuster. These are back-to-back blockbuster fights you tell your grandkids about. Who wouldn’t watch those?”
Usman’s blockbuster blueprint is electrifying, but a ferocious Buckley stands in his way this Saturday. With knockout power and a hunger to topple a legend, Buckley aims to shatter “The Nigerian Nightmare’s” comeback.
Dream big.
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!
Remember that 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/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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