What happened to Mohammed Usman's son Nash?

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 30 winner Mohammed Usman's son Nash tragically passed away in 2019 due to a drowning incident in a pool in Arlington, Texas. Even though the child was pulled out of the pool and transferred to a local hospital, his life could not be saved.

At the time of his death, Nash Mohammed Usman was just two years old. The death of a child is sure to break any parent. However, MMA fighter Usman instead decided to make something of his fighting career and do right by his son.

In an interview with ESPN MMA, Mohammed Usman opened up about how he dealt with the death of his son. The heavyweight revealed that his baby boy was the main reason he began fighting:

"I started fighting because of my son Nash. We had him in 2016 and he passed away in 2019 from drowning and he's the main reason that I fight... I'm really dedicating this season [TUF 30] to my son... I know you are looking down on me from heaven. I'm going to make you proud and I'm going to show you how far we've come."

Mohammed Usman is the younger brother of former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

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Mohammed Usman learned to "embrace the emotions" after the tragic passing of his son Nash

Death of a child is one of the biggest losses an individual can experience in life. While losing Nash at a young age broke Mohammed Usman, he learned to control his emotions and use them to fuel him in the competitive sphere of MMA.

In a 2023 interview with BBC Sport, Usman said:

"You've got to be one with your emotions and instead of masking them, just embrace it. These emotions inside are like a whirlwind and they are fuelling me to compete. I just embrace the emotions, flow with them and let them carry me to the finish line."

Speaking further, Usman explained how he deals with the pain of the loss:

"It's something that happened in my life, and I'm not saying that I'm trying to put it behind me, but you get to a certain point where there are some things you don't need to keep peeling the wound back. I don't just want to keep opening up my scab, I just want to let him [Nash] rest in peace." [H/T BBC Sport]