Kamaru Usman went time-traveling last night (Sat., June 14, 2025) in his one-sided UFC Atlanta main event victory over Joaquin Buckley.
Remember 2018? I would point to that calendar year as the height of Usman’s powers. Though not yet champion or pound-for-pound king, Usman would fight three times against Emil Meek, Demian Maia, and Rafael dos Anjos in his final push to secure a title shot. He fought for 65 total minutes that year, and he hardly lost a second of them. “The Nigerian Nightmare” absolutely lived up to his moniker, abusing his opponents in grueling wrestling-based wins that looked absolutely miserable to endure even if finishes weren’t materializing.
Usman would score bigger wins and better stoppages as champion, but I would argue he was at his most dominant on the rise up.
I was reminded of his November 2018 victory over Rafael dos Anjos last night. “RDA” is an infinitely better grappler than Buckley, but he was rendered helpless beneath Usman. The bout was five rounds of utter control. He couldn’t sweep or scramble, thoroughly stuck despite all his years of preparation and excellence. Usman was that good! Though Buckley relies more on explosiveness than grappling skill to escape such situations, the elite contender still found himself similarly trapped and unable to make any progress towards separation.
Usman is still that good.
What makes the performance particularly impressive is that Buckley is an absolute dog. He’s never been the most technical man on the roster, but he’s an A+ athlete with a scrapper’s mentality. He’s going to f—king fight you every step of the way, and he doesn’t seem to fear exhaustion like most fighters. How often have we seen a fighter give up or go defensive after just a single round of getting mauled on the floor? An undeterred Buckley opened every round by crashing forward with combos, intent on taking out the former champion and continually making it a fight. One of my favorite Andre Fili quotes is, “You might beat my ass, but you’re gonna have to,” and Buckley embodies that gritty principle.
Despite his masterful pressure and wrestling, Usman was forced to deal an opponent who refused to say die for 25 minutes. He had to continually work hard and take some heavy shots because of Buckley’s moxie, and it only made for a more impressive win given his age and history of injuries that he was able to keep pushing. Usman’s knees may be missing some cartilage, but his focus and conditioning are still rock solid.
It’s a statement from Usman, a rejection of the ensuing Welterweight replacement. Most of his peers have been smashed by some member of the next generation in the last year or two, several of them by Buckley himself! All the trends seemed to indicate Usman, older and coming off a long layoff, was simply the next casualty of this regime change.
Wrong.
Like Alexander Volkanovski, Usman was the best fighter of his generation by a clear margin, and that counts for something. He was so damn good that he’s still one of the best in the world even as his reaction times and general quickness have faded a bit. His win tonight is a reminder that when Usman was the best in the world, he set a remarkably high bar that still hasn’t been surpassed.
It’s good to have him back in the title picture.
