Kamaru Usman was never going to go on The Ultimate Fighter. As a promising welterweight with the Blackzilians in south Florida, he had the talent and connections to get to the UFC without a boost from the reality show, and after serving as a wrestling coach for Jason “Mayhem” Miller on season 14 of TUF, he looked around and figured that six weeks locked away from the world just wasn’t for him.
“I said I would never do a TUF season as a competitor,” Usman laughed. “And lo and behold, this opportunity comes up and Glenn, my manager, is like ‘hey, we’ve gotta do this.