Kamaru Usman Says He's Still UFC's Top Welterweight Ahead of Joaquin Buckley Fight

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is set to make his return to the Octagon after a nearly two-year layoff in the main event of Saturday's fight card in Atlanta against rising contender Joaquin Buckley.

Despite riding a three-fight losing streak and coming off a lengthy absence, Usman told TMZ that he still wholeheartedly feels that he's the best fighter in the welterweight division.

"Absolutely. I feel like I'm better than every one of those guys ahead of me," Usman said.

After losing his welterweight title to Leon Edwards and failing to recapture the belt in their rematch, Usman most recently fought in October 2023 in a short-notice middleweight fight against Khamzat Chimaev. Despite losing a unanimous decision, many were impressed by Usman's performance and felt he was gaining momentum over the latter half of the fight.

The 38-year-old held the UFC welterweight championship from 2019 to 2022, with five successful title defenses. His streak of 15 straight victories was the longest win streak in UFC welterweight history and tied for the second-longest in UFC history behind only the legendary Anderson Silva.

Usman will have a tough test in his return to the Octagon, as Buckley is riding a six-fight win streak into their main event. While the former champ isn't taking the 31-year-old lightly, he told TMZ that he's confident in his chances to hand him his first loss since 2022.

"Joaquin is very, very aggressive. Younger, hungry, tough dude. Very, very explosive. Aggressive. And he is pretty well-rounded," Usman said. "... It's my job to go in there and just kind of let him know that, 'You're doing a good thing, but you know you're just not there yet.'"