{"id":6197,"date":"2025-06-15T09:43:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T08:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=6197"},"modified":"2025-06-15T12:54:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T11:54:24","slug":"kamaru-usman-when-the-beast-awakens-from-its-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/kamaru-usman-when-the-beast-awakens-from-its-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman: When the Beast Awakens From Its Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1998\" data-end=\"2286\">Kamaru Usman\u2019s return at UFC Atlanta was not just a comeback to the octagon \u2014 it was a personal resurrection. Once the ruler of the welterweight division, Usman had slipped into silence, defeated and sidelined, his flame seemingly fading. On that night, he chose not to fade away quietly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2288\" data-end=\"2515\">Facing Joaquin Buckley, the fight wasn\u2019t merely about rankings. It was a clash against forgetting \u2014 a test to see whether &#8220;The Nigerian Nightmare&#8221; could still dictate the rhythm in a division that moves fast and forgets faster.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2517\" data-end=\"2718\">From the opening round, the tone was unmistakable. Usman closed distance, took control, grounded Buckley with authority. It wasn\u2019t just physical dominance \u2014 it was a mental statement: <em data-start=\"2701\" data-end=\"2718\">I\u2019m still here.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2720\" data-end=\"3013\">The second and third rounds followed the same path. Usman gave nothing away. Buckley tried to respond, especially in round three with a few bursts, but each attempt was quickly crushed. The former champion wasn\u2019t chasing a highlight reel finish \u2014 he was erasing momentum before it could begin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3015\" data-end=\"3220\">The fourth and fifth rounds reinforced the pattern. Buckley survived, but he never imposed. Usman remained composed, calculating, suffocating. The unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) was not in doubt.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"rtl\">\ud83e\udd81 The Nigerian Nightmare Kamaru Usman dominates!<br \/>Wins by unanimous decision over Joaquin Buckley, cementing his welterweight throne.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\udd81 \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0627\u0628\u0648\u0633 \u0627\u0644\u0646\u064a\u062c\u064a\u0631\u064a \u0643\u0627\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0648 \u0639\u062b\u0645\u0627\u0646 \u064a\u0647\u064a\u0645\u0646!<br \/>\u064a\u0646\u062a\u0635\u0631 \u0628\u0642\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0625\u062c\u0645\u0627\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0643\u0627\u0645 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0643\u064a\u0646 \u0628\u0627\u0643\u0644\u064a \u0648\u064a\u0624\u0643\u062f \u0639\u0631\u0634 \u0648\u0632\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0633\u0637 \u0628\u0644\u0627 \u0645\u0646\u0627\u0632\u0639.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFCAtlanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFCAtlanta<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IgTDRu1Nnp\">pic.twitter.com\/IgTDRu1Nnp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamalsoussi10\/status\/1934216408365142418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3222\" data-end=\"3407\">But beyond the scorecards, a deeper truth emerged: Usman didn\u2019t return for one last run. He returned <strong data-start=\"3323\" data-end=\"3406\">because he refuses to be written off before looking history straight in the eye<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"ar\" dir=\"rtl\">\ud83e\udd76 \u0643\u0627\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0648 \u0639\u062b\u0645\u0627\u0646 \u064a\u0631\u0633\u0644 \u062a\u062d\u0630\u064a\u0631\u0627\u064b \u0645\u062f\u0648\u064a\u0627\u064b!<\/p>\n<p>&quot;\u0627\u0633\u0645\u0639\u0648\u0627 \u062c\u064a\u062f\u064b\u0627\u060c \u0643\u0646\u062a \u0648\u0644\u0627 \u0632\u0644\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0627\u0628\u0648\u0633 \u0627\u0644\u0630\u064a \u064a\u0637\u0627\u0631\u062f \u0648\u0632\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0633\u0637 (170)!&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\u0647\u064a \u0631\u0633\u0627\u0644\u0629 \u0644\u0627 \u062a\u064f\u0646\u0633\u0649 \u0645\u0646 \u0623\u0633\u062f \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0644\u0628\u0629.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFCAtlanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFCAtlanta<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mq32SMCeGW\">pic.twitter.com\/mq32SMCeGW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamalsoussi10\/status\/1934215907657564342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3409\" data-end=\"3539\">Now the question lingers: is this the beginning of a new climb to the top \u2014 or the final roar of a lion unwilling to be forgotten?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kamaru Usman\u2019s return at UFC Atlanta was not just a comeback to the octagon \u2014 it was a personal resurrection. Once the ruler of the welterweight division, Usman had slipped into silence, defeated and sidelined, his flame seemingly fading. On that night, he chose not to fade away quietly. Facing Joaquin Buckley, the fight wasn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,86,21,91],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-mma-video","9":"category-ufc-news","10":"category-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6199,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6197\/revisions\/6199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}