“You can’t f**king deny it!” Dana White lauds Kamaru Usman as ‘greatest welterweight of all time’ to fighter’s face

UFC CEO Dana White announced Kamaru Usman as the greatest welterweight of all time in recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.

“You can’t f**king deny it!” Dana White lauds Kamaru Usman as ‘greatest welterweight of all time’ to fighter’s face

Dana White praises Kamaru Usman on his title reign (via imago)

Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is undoubtedly one of the best fighters in the UFC. However, UFC CEO Dana White recently declared him the “greatest welterweight of all time.” Here is what happened:

Dana White recently made an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. He boldly claimed that Kamaru Usman was the greatest welterweight of all time. This is what the UFC CEO said: 

When you become a f**king world champion at the UFC, you went through death f**king row of the baddest motherf**kers in the sport, in your division that you could possibly fight. When you talk about a Kamaru Usman, who went through them twice, you might not like Kamaru… but you cannot f**king deny that he's the greatest welterweight of all time…
Dana White via Pound 4 Pound podcast
YouTube video

The welterweight division has remained the storehouse of many superb talents the UFC has ever seen. Legends like Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, and Tyron Woodley have honored the division with their incredible career. However, UFC CEO Dana White declared Kamaru Usman the greatest welterweight of all time. However, Dana White addressed the hate towards Usman when he made this claim.

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Kamaru Usman holds the record for the longest single-division winning streak in UFC history. He is a former UFC welterweight champion. Usman fought everybody in the division, including Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns.

Usman even holds a win over current champion Leon Edwards when they first fought back in 2015. However, Usman went on a dry spell when he lost his undefeated winning streak and title to Edwards in 2022. His most recent loss was against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in the middleweight division.

What happened when Kamaru Usman met Dana White for the first time?

UFC CEO Dana White is definitely the biggest guest on the new Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. They had an interesting and entertaining hour-long conversation at the UFC Headquarters in Las Vegas.

Kamaru Usman Fighting Career
Kamaru Usman (Image Courtesy – Men’s Journal)

One particular instance from the episode highlighted how Dana White and Kamaru Usman met for the first time. Kamaru recalled the story of meeting in 2013 after Rashad Evans fought Chael Sonnen at UFC 167. The UFC CEO at the time talked about Mike Tyson and the respect a fighter receives. Usman narrated it from the perspective of Dana White. This is what he said: 

You said, 'You know what, Rashad, I want you to understand something about fighting... there are some of the biggest baseball players, biggest football players, biggest actors, and whatnot in a room. But when Mike Tyson walks into the f**king room, everybody knows that Mike Tyson is in the room...There's a certain level of respect as a fighter, as a gladiator, that you get.' And I remember hearing that story and I'm just going, 'Oh s**t, this is true.'
Kamaru Usman via Pound 4 Pound podcast

Usman recalled walking out of the room impressed by how ‘smart’ and ‘visionary’ Dana White was regarding the future of the sport. Under White’s leadership, the UFC has gone from going almost bankrupt in 2001 to getting valued at $12 billion after merging with WWE under Endeavor. The UFC has also produced some of the biggest names in MMA, and Kamaru Usman is one of them.

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