Video | Kamaru Usman appears to cut short his open workout after “something popped” in his knee, Justin Gaethje responds

Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman appeared to cut short his UFC 294 open workout after ‘something popped’ in his knee.

UFC 294 takes place this coming Saturday, October 21st at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

The co-main event is to feature Kamaru Usman (20-3 MMA) and Khamzat Chimaev (12-0 MMA) in a middleweight bout.

Ahead of the fight, Usman, 36,  held an open workout which has seemingly resulted in an injury.

Interviewer, Shakiel Mahjouri, took to ‘X‘ with the following:

“Did I hear that right at 0:18? Justin Gaethje: “Are you alright?” Kamaru Usman: “No, something popped”

‘MMA Orbit’ posted the following comment along with a video of the incident to ‘X’:

https://twitter.com/mma_orbit/status/1714672120741892381

“It looks like Kamaru Usman’s open workout may have been cut short after he appears to tell Justin Gaethje that something “popped” in his knee.”

‘MMA Junkie’ added:

“We know all about Usman’s struggles with his knees over the years.”

BMF champion Justin Gaethje, who was sparring with Kamaru Usman, took to ‘X’ with the following clarification:

He said I’m good or something like that. I thought he hit his head on the mat. I asked him if he hit his head in this clip when we got up and he said no 👊

— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) October 18, 2023

“He said I’m good or something like that. I thought he hit his head on the mat. I asked him if he hit his head in this clip when we got up and he said no”

We will have to see what this means for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ as his fight with the undefeated Chimaev is only days away.

There has been no comment from Usman’s camp at the time of writing.

Kamaru Usman stepped in, on very short notice, to  replace Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA) at UFC 294 in his bout against Khamzat Chimaev. Costa had withdrawn from the fight due to a staph infection.

Will Usman have to pull out of UFC 294 as well?

Stay tuned to BJ Penn for further updates.