Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has always been known as “The Nigerian Nightmare,” but some fans are still curious why Colby Covington keeps calling him “Marty.” In a recent interview, Usman shared the story behind the moniker, explaining that it all started back in his school and college days.
Usman didn’t mind the switch at the time, and the name stuck with him throughout his wrestling career and into the early days of his MMA journey. Now, even though he’s a global star, the nickname still comes up from time to time. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ dove deeper into what happened during an interview with ‘Thanasis Antetokounmpo’.
“It started in high school. My full name is Kamarudeen. My high school coach, he is reading it and he’s like ‘I can’t say this shit’. He’s like I am just going to call you Marty. I was like yes sir that’s good. So he starts to call me Marty.”
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He went on to add that the name would not have caught on if he did not do well. However, as he started to do well in wrestling at school the name ‘Marty’ became more popular and everyone started to call him that.
The former champion also explained that when it was time to go to college, the coaches from college called his high school coaches to ask about him.
During their conversations, his high school coach referred to him as Marty and that is how the nickname carried into college as well. He finished by saying that while it felt cool to have a nickname, ultimately, it took away from his real identity.
Usman aims to reclaim another part of his identity
For a long time now, Usman has been associated with the 170-pound belt in the UFC. He is easily in the conversation for the greatest welterweight to ever do it, comparable even to the great Georges St-Pierre.
Unfortunately, he lost his belt to Leon Edwards and has not been able to win it back since. As things stand, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ is on a three-fight skid and facing an uphill battle to get the title back.
The champion, Belal Muhammad, meanwhile has been going back and forth with him on Twitter for quite some time now. It is a fight he would welcome as it is against a big name and a former champion.
However that will not happen given Usman’s current record. But given how dominant and active he was as a champion, Kamaru Usman is always only a fight or two away from a legit title shot. Who knows? Maybe a win over Shavkat Rakhmonov will get him to the promised land.
