UFC 310 takes place this Saturday in Las Vegas where in the lead up to the event, there was a lot of talk regarding the welterweight division.
The original main event for this card saw Belal Muhammad put his welterweight title on the line against the undefeated contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
When Muhammad withdrew from the fight due to an injury, talk turned to finding a replacement opponent for Rakhmonov so that he could stay on the card.
Many assumed that said opponent would be the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman who has not fought since his loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 last October.
"The Nigerian Nightmare" later revealed on his Pound 4 Pound podcast that stepping in on short notice to fight in December would be too soon for him.
Instead, Ian Machado Garry stepped in, putting together a co-main event title eliminator between the division's two undefeated contenders.
During their preview episode for UFC 310 this weekend, Usman once again commented on him stepping in to replace Muhammad, calling out the fans who have criticised him for not taking the fight:
"I'm seeing people online saying, 'You're scared, you're ducking him, you're scared.' This feels like the same sentiment people directed toward Jon Jones. It's like when fans, or fans of a fighter, don't get the fight they want, the one they personally desire, they jump to, 'Oh no, that guys must be scared.'"
He pointed out how crazy the idea of a former world champion being scared of an opponent would be, telling his critics to "shut up".
"A world champion who defends their belt time and time again...yeah, shut up. Just because you didn't get what you wanted, guess what? It's like your mom telling you, 'No, you can't have that toy today.'"
Watch the full podcast below:
