Kamaru Usman barely gave Tyron Woodley enough space to breathe, let alone strike.
In an upset victory to win the welterweight championship Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in the co-main event of UFC 235, the challenger looked possessed as he pressured the champion for 25 minutes without a second of restraint. Usman set a UFC championship-bout record for strike differential after out-landing the long-time belt-holder 336-60.
“It was just knowing all the things I was fighting for,” Usman said after earning his unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-44).
Usman’s driving force was the journey to his goal, a path so adverse that finishing it off with such ease against Woodley felt ill-fitting.