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From Nigerian villager to UFC champion, Kamaru Usman had long path to glory

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.