Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov

Last week, a new UFC documentary called ‘Fight Inc: Inside the UFC’ aired on Roku, and footage quickly emerged of negotiations between UFC CEO, Dana White, and Kamaru Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

UFC CEO, Dana White, and matchmakers Hunter Campbell and Sean Shelby were seen in the UFC ‘War Room’, trying to figure out fights in the welterweight division.

The three discussed possible fights for soaring 170lb contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov, with Kamaru Usman coming up as a possible name.

Fortunately for the three, Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz was in the kitchen at the time, enjoying lunch with former lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

(L-R) Former UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Justin Gathje attend the UFC 296 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2023 in Las Vegas,...

Khabib made an argument for Usman vs Rakhmonov, despite Ali’s suggestion

White made his way into the kitchen to pose a possible fight between ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and Rakhmonov to Abdelaziz, to which he replied, “Usman wants Wonderboy.”

Despite that, Nurmagomedov sided with White, stating that a win over Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, wouldn’t be as beneficial for Usman as a win over the 29-year-old Uzbek.

“You know, one of the things that makes you the greatest fighter, when you’re 36/37 (years old) and you have 15 (fight win streak), you defend the title many times (back in the day) and you give the opportunity to shine for younger guys, this is what makes you great, this is what I think,” Khabib claimed.

“You’re absolutely right,” White replied to Khabib, “This is what I try to tell your manager every time we make a fight.”

The UFC boss returned to the ‘War Room’ to relay Khabib’s message to the matchmakers, however, the fight didn’t ever come to fruition.

Kamaru Usman reacts to viral negotiation footage

Usman and the Uzbek contender have trained together before, as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ helped him prepare for his UFC 296 fight against Stephen Thompson.

The former UFC welterweight champion has shared his thoughts on the viral negotiation footage and has made a revelation.

“First and foremost, I’m not even in the game right now, so that’s the least of (my worries), I’m not even worried about any of that,” Usman explained on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.

The 37-year-old went on to explain that the documentary was filmed a year ago, and would’ve been before he accepted a late-notice fight against Khamzat Chimaev.

At UFC 294 this past October, Usman accepted a middleweight fight against ‘Borz’ on less than two weeks notice.

“After that, guess what? I stepped in there on nine days’ notice and fought possibly the most dangerous guy in the UFC at that time, Khamzat Chimaev,” Usman stated.

Despite admitting that he is currently not thinking about fighting, the Nigerian claimed that when he does return, he will fight whoever he needs to fight to get back to the top, but didn’t state which division he will compete in upon his return.

“When I do get back into the Octagon, I don’t give a flying frick who it is, if it’s cousin John, if it’s this guy, if it’s that guy, if it’s Shavkat, if it’s (Jack Della Maddalena), if it’s Leon Edwards or if it’s Belal (Muhammad), I don’t care who it is.

“When I am ready to step back into the Octagon and I want to fight somebody, I don’t give a s***, I’ll fight who I need to fight,” Usman added.