After defeating TUF competitor Mitchell Sipe to secure a spot in the semi-finals, Denver’s Mohammed Usman is set up to take on the final standing member of Team Nunes, Eduardo Perez. The winner of this week’s fight will earn a fight in the live final event against Elevation Fight Teams, Zac Pauga.
Most fighters don’t get to see or speak with their family while in the TUF house, but not every fighter has a brother who is the #1 PFP Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman. After seeing Kamaru at a UFC event, team coach Julianna Peña invited Kamaru to the TUF house to speak with his brother, Mohammed before his semi-final fight. The two brothers grew up together and shared a room for most of their childhood years, with Kamaru saying he is one of, if not the closest people to Mohammed. Kamaru offered lots of advice to Mohammed and emphasized how much more important the mental game is inside the ring than it is in the gym. Mohammed was also allowed to make a call home to his parents, who told him to focus and do whatever it takes to win and make a name for both himself and their family. Mohammed reflected on how much his parents went through in life to provide for him and his siblings. Between the visit from his brother and the call from his parents, Mohammed became very emotional, clearly overwhelmed with the love and respect he has for his family. He says that family has always been the reason for everything that he does and their support and love only deepens his focus on training and winning.
In Mohammeds training, his team focused on using his athleticism and explosivity to wear down his much larger but less fit opponent, Eduardo Perez. Mohammed is four inches shorter than Perez at 6’1 vs. 6’5, 27 pounds lighter at 238 lbs., and has a 4-inch shorter reach. With this in mind, Mohammed was advised to attack in bursts and pressure Perez to avoid being out ranged the entire fight.
Fight Recap
Since this is the semi-final fight, there are three five-minute rounds rather than two, followed by a sudden winner round in the case of a draw.
Round 1
Mohammed began the first round on all fours, his signature move that he shares with his older brother Kamaru. The fighters began to feel out each other’s range with Mo being incredibly careful of Perez’s longer reach. While Perez spent most of the round throwing leg kicks and slipping in long jabs, Mo went to work following his coach’s advice by exploding into Perez, pressuring him towards the cage and nullifying his range advantage. Most of the round went in this way until the final minute when Perez lost his balance. Mo pounced on him and landed a flurry of strikes, chasing Perez around the cage for the remainder of the round. At this point, Perez’s strikes were visibly getting slower as he did not have the stamina to keep up with Mo.
Round 2
Mo started the second-round hunting Perez, constantly pressuring him towards the cage and using it to get inside and land shots. After 2 minutes, Mo was able to use this pressure to finish a fast double leg on Perez, peppering him with strikes to the body before Perez used the cage to stand back up and push off Mo. Perez began to find a rhythm, landing several jabs and crosses before Mo repositioned himself and landed a huge right overhand to reclaim the momentum of the fight. For the rest of the round, both fighters exchanged combos, but it was Mo who consistently moved forward, initiating strikes, and pressuring Ed into the cage.
Round 3
Round 3 continued much of the same way as the last with Mo mixing jabs with wide hooks, slipping past Perez’s gloves. Mo maintained a strong rhythm, constantly walking forward and landing explosive combos to Ed’s body and head. Perez landed several jabs and leg kicks on Mo but could not match the intensity that Mo maintained throughout the fight. Ultimately, Mohammud was declared the winner by split decision by the judges, securing his spot in the Live finale against TUF teammate Zac Pauga.
Live Finale
The next time we see both fighters in the cage, they will be against each other in the finale of Season 30 of TUF, fighting for a contract with the UFC.
