"Am I really that guy?" - Kamaru Usman talks about battling self-doubt before facing Khamzat Chimaev

Kamaru Usman is one of the all-time best welterweights in MMA history but he has vulnerable moments like all of us.

In the wake of losing his 170-pound UFC title to Leon Edwards, there were some self-doubts for Usman leading into his clash with Khamzat Chimaev.

Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo host a show called Pound 4 Pound, with this topic coming up while chatting with multi-division UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen.

When asked by Sonnen if he was having doubts about himself leading into the 'Borz' fight, Usman said,

"It's like you're looking at comments and you see 99 comments that say you're the greatest. It's just like wrestling, we don't remember all the people we beat. But you remember those tough ones in the finals that you lost. It's kind of one of those situations where I haven't heard that in a while. Of course coming off of losing my title.

"It's like you want to assess everything. Do I change? Do I do this? Do I do that? Am I really that guy? Am I not that guy? Am I big enough? Am I not big enough? Yes, I asked for more time with the UFC but they didn't really give it to me. Now I have nine days, what do I do? So I was carrying a little bit of that."

Check out Sonnen and Kamaru Usman chopping it up at the 10:50 mark below:

Kamaru Usman and his recent losing skid

Kamaru Usman had notched five consecutive defenses of his UFC belt before stepping into the cage in August 2022. He was taking on Leon Edwards in a rematch, with Usman besting him in their initial fight. It seemed as if Usman was on his way to recording another win over 'Rocky' until Edwards landed an iconic head kick knockout in the final round to ascend to the throne.

The 36-year-old was then set to face Edwards in a rubber match at UFC 286. While Usman did not get finished, he lost by way of a majority decision in March 2023 and came out on the losing end of the overall series with Edwards.

The Nigerian then had the aforementioned Chimaev fight last October at UFC 294. Usman dropped it by majority decision, extending his losing skid to three straight. Nonetheless, Usman is regarded by many as the most accomplished welterweight in UFC history outside of Georges St. Pierre, and for good reason.