"Class from both guys" - Fans react as Kamaru Usman finally opens up to Canelo Alvarez about calling him out for a crossover fight

Kamaru Usman has not competed since suffering a majority decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his middleweight debut, which he took on 10 days notice, at UFC 294 last October. During his reign atop the welterweight division, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' expressed an interest in a crossover bout with then-undisputed super middleweight boxing champion Canelo Alvarez.

The pair discussed the talks on the Pound 4 Pound Show with the No. 2-ranked welterweight stating:

"I'm a fan of everything that you have done in the sport of boxing. Obviously, we're competitors and we want to compete. When we started this thing of competition and sport, we didn't both necessarily get in it for money. You get in it to be the best at it, to compete, but then you get to a certain point where the paycheck, it makes it worthwhile. You were in a spot where you were just dominating everybody to where the question was being asked, 'who else?'

Usman added that he was looking to give Alvarez a different look in the ring as someone who is not a technical boxer leading the latter to respond:

"No hard feelings, this is the beauty of sports. You're the best in your sport. I'm the best in my sport. I respect that. We're never going to know because we never made the fight. I always say that's why you chose MMA and I chose boxing. If I go in there with you in MMA, it's going to be different. If you come to my sport, it's going to be different."

Check out the full comments from Kamaru Usman and Canelo Alvarez below:

Fans reacted to the discussion between the two combat sports legends, with @JJtheGoatKSIfan praising both for the class shown:

"class from both guys"

@sweartogod897 blamed the UFC for underpaying their fighters:

"You wanted to fight him because the UFC is under paying you. You would never wanna fight him if you were getting paid 45-50% rather than 17% of the revenue by the UFC. That's it. @danawhite @USMAN84kg"

@Fatih_2902 believes there was a simple explanation for Kamaru Usman's call-out:

"The reason: Money"

Check out the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

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Belal Muhammad hoping to face Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310

Belal Muhammad was able to capture the welterweight title when he defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 304. He recently revealed that he is hoping to face either Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December.

Championship Rounds shared the comments, tweeting:

"🚨 Belal Muhammad is hoping to fight at #UFC310 in December, and expects to fight either Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov 👀 “You just never know if they don’t want to put nobody on McGregor’s card, but I doubt McGregor’s even fighting. If they need somebody for that, I’ll be there.” (via. @MMAJunkie ) #UFC #MMA"

Check out the tweet from Championship Rounds below:

Muhammad and Usman have continued to exchange words on social media since the former captured the welterweight title. Rakhmonov, however, has finished each of his 18 opponents in his mixed martial arts career, including six opponents since making his UFC debut in October 2020.