Kamaru Usman has said in the past that he’s scored one-sided wins, despite not being at his best, and the new welterweight champ reported that again following UFC 235.

Usman ended Tyron Woodley’s reign as champion on Saturday night, and he did so in dominant, impressive fashion. From the opening bell, Usman came with a ton of pressure and outscored Woodley with his clinch work, wrestling and top game. Well, as it turns out, Usman was able to do so, despite having a fractured foot.

At the post-fight press conference, Usman reported the following (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I’ve been on one leg this whole time,” Usman said. “And coming into this fight, I was in a boot all week. I fractured my left foot. I was in a boot. I was walking around in a boot. But nothing was going to deter me from achieving what I’ve set out to achieve. I’m hoping that I can go back and have the doctor really look at it.”

“To this day, people haven’t really seen me open up my kicking arsenal,” Usman said. “I could kick, everybody. I could kick. I work with one of the best striking coaches in the world, Henri Hooft. And we can kick. And people haven’t really seen that. Like I said, I’ve been on one leg for years now. Being able to open up and use my kick would make me so much more dangerous. It wouldn’t even be fair to use some of the weapons that we work on.

“But when I go into these fights and I have to go through the ringer to prepare for them and I know that I’m not 100 percent going in, winning is the most important thing and dominating is the most important thing. And that’s what I’ve been doing.”

So, this is pretty interesting to hear, and this explains some of the comments Usman made in the past about recording victories, despite being far from 100% (which at the time, he took heat for). It will be fascinating to see how Usman looks when he’s fully healthy, and firing kicks. Further, it will be really interesting to see whether he uses kicks against another notable wrestler in Colby Covington (who is expected to be next for Usman).

UFC 235 was hosted by the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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