“Enters the Royal Rumble”: Kamaru Usman Raises Eyebrows After Working Out at WWE Headquarters

Is former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman making a journey to the squared circle of the WWE? With the Royal Rumble on the horizon and the WWE and the UFC being sister companies, it could certainly be a possibility. At least that’s what fans believe after watching Usman tease a “little something special” at the WWE headquarters.

Usman would be a natural fit for the WWE. Since TKO’s takeover of UFC and WWE in 2023, the crossovers between the companies have become increasingly common. While stars like Michael Chandler have been seen at WWE events, former champions like Daniel Cormier have even acted as ‘special guest referees’ for marquee feuds in the wrestling promotion.

The companies’ biggest exports to each other have been megastars like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, both of whom have held world titles across the promotions. 

 But how would Usman fare in the WWE? Well, the former champion has been away from the octagon since his loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in late 2023. It’s been more than a year since then and Usman has successfully transitioned into a podcaster.

While he still ranks high on the welterweight roster and has had challenges thrown his way, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ doesn’t seem to interested in getting back to action anytime soon.

On his Pound4Pound podcast, Usman had reacted to fighters and fans calling him out for ducking and said he wasn’t going to risk anything till he felt physically healthy.

“Everyone keeps going, ‘Oh you’re not taking fights.’ I want to fight. I do. But if I’m not healthy, then I can’t do that to the best of my ability –to give you guys ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ who you’re used to seeing, that you guys want to see in that octagon.”

It is impossible to ascertain when that will be. So in the meantime, it won’t be a surprise to see him run the ropes at a WWE PLE.

Fans were also quick to react to the pictures and videos of him from WWE HQ. Speculating as much as the next man, this fan said, “Kamaru enters the Royal Rumble”.

Another commented on the perceived problems with Usman’s knees and said, “Them knees on life support”.

This man seemed far more skeptical than others and claimed Usman was done with combat sports in general, and asserted, “Feel like he’s another McGregor. He’s never coming back and that’s that”.

Usman, meanwhile, has been busy stirring the pot at the 170 lbs division but pitting Belal Muhammad against Islam Makhachev.

But the evident hypocrisy of his words happens to be grabbing more headlines than his actual remarks.

Belal asks why Usman never fought Adesanya

Back in the day of the ‘3 African Kings’, Israel Adesanya, Francis Ngannou, and Usman, all held titles at the UFC. Ngannou was obviously far beyond the reach of the other two. But it was speculated that a fight between Adesanya and Usman might duke it out for the double champ status.

However, at the time, Usman had refused to even entertain the conversation claiming that Adesanya was his brother and he would never fight him.

We’re different flavors, we’re completely different flavors. Izzy does it with his flair, I love his flavor and how he does it. Then I do it with my style. This is just different styles for them (kids) to be able to see and pick from, so that means more to me; having two Nigerian champions than just one.

Belal cited this and went berserk at Usman trying to start a feud that doesn’t exist. The welterweight champion reminded Usman that he was on a three-fight skid and asked him to step away.

“Bro, shut up… If they’re going out there calling me out, this and that, it’s a different story. But everybody’s just looking for that notion to hate on me. They’re looking for that notion because they don’t want me to be champion. They want to make it seem like I don’t belong.” 

Belal also took some shots at Usman’s title reign and claimed that he avoided tougher contenders in favor of rematches with fighters like Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. He does acknowledge that Usman’s name carries weight but concedes that if Usman wanted another title shot, he would have to beat his losing streak first or risk people forgetting about him.