full name: Kamarudeen Usman
fight name: The Nigerian Nightmare
residence: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
height: 6’0″
weight division: welterweight
current promotion: UFC
pro MMA record: 20-3

Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian professional mixed martial artist nicknamed The Nigerian Nightmare. He is also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a former freestyle wrestler and a retired folkstyle wrestler.

Usman was born in Auchi, Edo, Nigeria to his Muslim father Muhammed Nasiru Usman and his Christian mother Afishetu P. Usman. Muhammed was a major in the Nigerian Army who became a pharmacist in the United States while Afishetu is a teacher.

Kamaru has three siblings. He is 3 years younger than his brother Kashetu Usman, 2 years older than their brother Mohammed Usman, who is also an MMA fighter, and 10 years older than their sister Ashlynn Usman.

Currently, both Kamaru and Mohammed are signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Kamaru is 6’0″ tall and he competes in the welterweight division while Mohammed is 6’2″ tall and he competes in the heavyweight division.

When Kamaru was a sophomore at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, USA, he started wrestling. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 1995, he, his siblings and their parents moved from Nigeria to Dallas, Texas.
2. In 2007, he wrestled at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, USA.
3. From 2008 to 2010, he wrestled at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in Kearney, Nebraska, USA.
4. His father was convicted of health care fraud and money laundering in May 2010 and was released from Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville in Seagoville, Texas on March 16, 2021.
5. On November 30, 2012, he made his professional MMA debut at “Resurrection Fighting Alliance 5” in Kearney where he defeated David Glover via technical knockout via punches. In 2013, he lost to Jose Caceres before he defeated Rashid Abdullah.
6. In 2014, his daughter was born. In the same year, he defeated Steven Rodriguez, Lenny Levoto and Marcus Hicks.
7. On July 12, 2015, he won “The Ultimate Fighter 21” welterweight tournament in Las Vegas by submitting Hayder Hassan via arm-triangle choke. On December 19, 2015, he made his UFC debut at “UFC on Fox 17” in Orlando, Florida, USA where he defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision.
8. He defeated Alexander Yakovlev and Warlley Alves in 2016, Sean Strickland and Sergio Moraes in 2017 and Emil Weber Meek, Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos in 2018.
9. On March 2, 2019, he became the UFC Welterweight Champion by defeating Tyron Woodley via unanimous decision at “UFC 235” in Las Vegas.
10. He successfully defended the UFC Welterweight Championship title from Colby Covington on December 14, 2019 and on November 6, 2021, Jorge Masvidal on July 12, 2020 and on April 24, 2021 and Gilbert Burns on February 13, 2021.
11. On August 20, 2022, he lost the UFC Welterweight Championship belt to Edwards, who knocked him out via head kick at “UFC 278” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
12. He played a naval officer in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever“, which was released in the U.S. on November 11, 2022.
13. He was 35 years old when he lost to Edwards via majority decision in their trilogy bout on March 18, 2023 at “UFC 286” in London, England, which downgraded his professional MMA record to 20 wins and 3 losses.