"Special athlete" - Kamaru Usman picks Rose Namajunas among his final predicted winners for UFC 274

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has been training alongside UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at ONX Sports since 2020. Usman has now addressed both of his teammates’ all-important title clashes that are set to take place tonight.

Namajunas is scheduled to defend her UFC women’s strawweight title in a rematch against Carla Esparza in the co-main event of tonight’s UFC 274 fight card. ‘Thug’ will look to avenge a third-round submission loss she suffered against Esparza in 2014 and even the score with ‘Cookie Monster’ at UFC 274.

Meanwhile, Gaethje will fight former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC 274. Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight title after he weighed in 0.5 pounds above the 155-pound lightweight limit at the official UFC 274 weigh-ins.

Resultantly, Gaethje is eligible to win the title if he beats Oliveira. However, since Oliveira missed weight, he isn’t eligible to win the title even if he were to beat Gaethje. Taking to his Instagram account, Kamaru Usman has picked his teammates Namajunas and Gaethje to win their respective fights.

Kamaru Usman also foresees Andre Fialho beating Cameron VanCamp and Danny Roberts beating Francisco Trinaldo in their respective welterweight bouts. Both aforesaid fights will take place in the UFC 274 prelims. Usman stated:

“What’s up, everybody. It’s fight day, UFC 274, going down tonight. I mean, fantastic fights. This time, guys, I wanna give you guys my perspective the whole card. And I’m gonna give you picks from the prelims as well.”

Usman added, “On that prelim, fantastic fights. I’m gonna go with Andre Fialho, man. Man, my guy. Go with Danny Roberts. That’s another fantastic one. Then we come to the main and co-main. Of course, Rose Namajunas, special athlete, so I’m gonna go with her. And of course, I’m gonna go with Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje as the new champion.”

Watch Usman put forth his predictions for UFC 274 in the video below:

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Is Conor McGregor Kamaru Usman’s potential next opponent?

MMA megastar Conor McGregor is currently recovering from his leg injury. He's lately been lobbying for a fight against Usman. McGregor, who’s previously held the featherweight and lightweight belts, has vowed to become the UFC’s first triple-weight champion.

Intriguingly, Usman hasn’t closed the door on a possible fight with McGregor when they both return from their injury hiatuses later this year. Nevertheless, the consensus is that their grudge match won’t materialize in the immediate future. Usman is instead expected to defend his welterweight belt against Leon Edwards next potentially in July.