Manager Claims Ex-Champ Is UFC CEO Dana White's 'Favorite Fighter'

Originally posted on MMA on SI | Last updated Jan 9, 2024 1:38 PM ET

Every combat sports fan has fighters that they hold in particularly high regard, and Ali Abdelaziz claims that UFC CEO Dana White has good reason to be especially fond of one of the promotion’s former champions.

One of the more well-known names in MMA despite the fact that he’s not a fighter himself, Abdelaziz manages some of the most successful fighters currently competing at the highest levels of the sport.

ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto recently sat down with Abdelaziz for a wide-ranging interview that touched on several of his fighters like Belal Muhammad and Islam Makhachev, but when the topic of Kamaru Usman came up the manager made an interesting claim.

“Dana White’s favorite fighter is Kamaru Usman,” Abdelaziz told Okamoto. “A hundred percent. Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Kamaru Usman, [I've never seen] Dana give more respect to them than these guys. ‘Cause they never choose opponents, they don’t care who they fight. And Kamaru especially."

A former UFC welterweight champion, Usman defended his belt a total of five times before he was famously caught by a head kick from Leon Edwards in the final minute of their matchup at UFC 278.

“The Nigerian Nightmare” came up short in an immediate rematch with Edwards before he made his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, and Abdelaziz says it’s Usman’s willingness to accept any challenge that’s made him such a favorite of White and the UFC brass.

“Kamaru [doesn't] care. Middleweight, welterweight, light heavyweight - he was willing to fight Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight. Kamaru is gonna go down – he’s the greatest welterweight of all time. He’s Top 5, one of the greatest ever in my opinion. Young guys, watch Kamaru Usman’s career.”

After losing the second fight of his pro career in 2013, Usman embarked on an incredible run of success that included winning Season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter as well as his reign with the UFC welterweight title before he was stopped by Edwards in the second fight of their eventual trilogy.

Now on the first three-fight skid of his career, Usman still sits at #1 in the UFC’s welterweight rankings even after he moved up to middleweight for a closely-contested majority decision loss to Chimaev in his last outing.

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