Teammates Michael Johnson and Kamaru Usman want to fight Dos Anjos and Maia in Brazil
Last Saturday, on the main card of UFC Fight Night 100, streaking welterweight Kamaru Usman dominated Warlley Alves to a lopsided, unanimous decision win. It was one of the best wins of his already impressive career.
In the moments after his defeat of Alves, Usman sought to catapult himself up the welterweight rankings with a callout of the streaking Demian Maia. Unfortunately for him, Maia wasn’t particularly interested in this callout. Given that he holds the welterweight division’s number three spot, while Usman is not yet ranked, that’s not particularly surprising.
Congrats to Usman for a good performance, you have a promising career ahead. Look forward to see you fight more and become a top #10 @ufc
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) November 20, 2016
Despite Maia’s disinterest in this booking, Usman is unwilling to give up on it. On Monday evening, the welterweight prospect once again called for a bout with Maia, and even tried to set his teammate Michael Johnson up with a fight.
Apparently, Johnson wants to fight former champion Rafael Dos Anjos in the main event of the UFC’s next trip to Brazil. Should Johnson get this fight, Usman says he’d happily co-main event the card opposite Maia.
@danawhite let's do it. @FollowTheMenace wants RDA in Brazil headliner and I want @demianmaia in co main. Let's do business 👊🏾😏🇳🇬
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) November 22, 2016
While it seem unlikely that Usman gets his fight with Maia, a bout between Johnson and Dos Anjos seems quite possible.
Though he entered 2016 as the best lightweight on earth, Dos Anjos has recently fallen on hard times. First, he succumbed to a first-round knockout dealt by Eddie Alvarez, surrendering the lightweight crown in the process. Then, he came up short in a five-round war with Tony Ferguson, which thrust him onto his first two-fight skid since 2009.
As a top-10 lightweight in the loss column, Johnson finds himself in a similar situation. Though he recently burst into title contention with a first-round walloping of Dustin Poirier, Johnson was since brought back to earth by Khabib Nurmagomedov, who dominated him en route to a third-round submission win at UFC 205.
Do you think Usman and Johnson will get their wishes and be booked for fights with Maia and Dos Anjos? Sound off, PENN Nation!
