HOMECOMING: UFC champ, Kamaru Usman returns to Nigeria for the first time in 26 years

…to feed 1,000 children in Lagos

Nigerian-born UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman is set to make an emotional homecoming back to Nigeria in June. Usman, who left the land of his birth when he was just 8-years-old, returns for his first visit in the 26 years since then.

Though leaving Nigeria when he was yet a child, Kamaru has never lost sight of his Nigerian and African roots and the expectations therein. The champion was noted for always making his fight entrances brandishing the Nigerian flag in both hands while dancing to the beat of Nigerian Afropop. His rallying cry of ‘Africa unite!’ and his nickname, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ pretty much tells you where his allegiances always lie. Though the nickname was trademarked by Nigerian-born NFL star, Christian Okoye, Usman seems a more appropriate representation of the name seeing how he has destroyed every challenger in his path.

“Being born in a place like Nigeria helped mould me into the man I am today,” Usman told CNN’s Zane Asher in May. He also went on to recount his childhood experiences in Nigeria, recalling how his mum who was a school teacher also owned a shop and how they had to farm to grow the food they eat. He also remembered having to walk several miles with his grandmother to fetch water from a well, stressing that “most people may not understand that”.

Kamaru Usman won the UFC welterweight strap after defeating Tyrone Woodley by unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 235 on Sunday, March 3, 2019

Kamaru also takes great pride in being the first-ever UFC champion from Africa and never misses an opportunity to explain how privileged he is to have that legacy. Fellow Nigerian and Middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya, and Cameroonian and heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou have since joined him as African champions and Kamaru holds these achievements in very high regard. “It puts a smile on my face because growing up I never saw this. And now, we are that example for the people of Africa. Now we are telling them this is attainable.”

Homecoming and CSR activities including feeding 1,000 children in Lagos

UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman is returning home after conquering the world. The champ is expected to touch down in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on June 10, 2021. He’s expected to be engaged in a host of activities including media chats and general Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities through which he aims to give back to his country of birth.

Kamaru is also expected to make a detour to the country’s commercial and martial arts capital, Lagos where he is expected to engage with the city and its inhabitants, especially the fight clubs. He’s also expected to continue his CSR activities in Lagos, where this reporter gathers he would be feeding the indigent children in the slums.

From Lagos, Usman would continue to his home state of Edo. Part of his activities there will include visiting family and friends whom he hasn’t seen for all these years. He is also expected to initiate a community activation plan that involves making lives better for the Edo State people.

More than a conqueror

Fresh from destroying his latest challenger, Jorge Masvidal with a punch that reverberated across the world, The Nigerian Nightmare is widely regarded as pound-for-pound the best fighter in the UFC. With 4 title defences under his belt already, Usman has the longest winning streak in UFC welterweight history with 14 wins. He also ties for the most win percentage in the UFC with a 100% win record.

Usman has the longest active winning streak in the UFC with 14 and has never been taken down in all his UFC career. As of now, he has beaten all the top contenders to his welterweight crown.