Kamaru Usman would love the opportunity to coach a season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and he has just the candidates in mind to coach opposite him.
Many great names have emerged from The UFC’s TUF series. Great competitors like Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Michael Bisping, the list goes on and on. Another notable name from the list of greats who got their start on the show is current UFC welterweight champion and UFC 258 headliner Kamaru Usman. Now that Usman officially went from pupil to champion, would he be willing to return to the show in a coaching capacity?
“Absolutely,” Usman answered in a UFC 258 media scrum. “I mean, the stage is kind of set for me to do that, and I think there’s no time better than now to be able to do that. I’ve proven myself as a champion.
“Some of the greatest seasons of The Ultimate Fighter are when those proven champions are able to step in there against a foe and go out there, and deliver, and help some of the newer generations and newer fighters crack into the UFC. So absolutely. I think the stage is kind of set for me.”
Usman Names Ideal Candidates To Coach Against
Dana White has been promising a new season of TUF for years now. The most recent season took place in 2018 with The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters. White said this week that there are plans in place for the show to return this summer with welterweight coaches. The two names that instantly came to the public mind were Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. Those same names come to mind for Usman, only he sees himself as one-half of the coaches.
“The opponent, I’ll let the people decide who they want to see with that,” Usman said. “You’ve got the loudmouth guy that runs around saying he’s Jesus, that he can baptize anybody, we can do that. Or, we can have the other guy that I broke his face again. So either one, the stage is set.”
Dana White announced today that the UFC is looking at booking a #1-contender fight between Colby Covington and Leon Edwards after Khamzat Chimaev pulled out of his scheduled fight against Edwards due to COVID complications. If this fight takes place and Covington wins, it’s quite possible that Usman’s vision will come to fruition in a volatile TUF season that would set the stage quite well for a dramatic Usman vs. Covington sequel.
Would you be interested in seeing Kamaru Usman coaching against Colby Covington or Jorge Masvidal in TUF?