Kamaru Usman says former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz does not pose a challenge to him, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The two had a stare-down backstage while in attendance at UFC 276.
Usman recently posted a picture of the stand-off on Instagram, claiming the Pole is “nothing he can’t handle.”
The UFC welterweight king wrote on Instagram, “Nothing I can’t Handle… But first the English.”
Usman had contemplated a move to the light heavyweight, leapfrogging the middleweight division, when Jan Blachowicz was the champion at 205 lbs. However, the Pole was dethroned by Glover Teixeira in his first title defense at UFC 268.
Teixeira recently lost his strap to Jiri Prochazka at the UFC 275 headliner that saw ‘Denisa’ score a stunning comeback victory with less than half a minute left in the bout.
Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, was unimpressed and claimed that the welterweight champion could beat the top three ranked light heavyweights.
Blachowicz is coming off a third-round TKO win over top contender Aleksandar Rakic. Following his recent stare-down with Usman, the former champion stated that he liked to hunt monsters like ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
“So, you say people call you “The Nigerian Nightmare”… a monster. Good. I hunt monsters. Makes no difference how scary they are.” Usman is scheduled to defend his strap against Leon Edwards in a rematch at UFC 278 on August 20. Their first encounter in 2015 ended in a lopsided decision win for the Nigerian.
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