At the start of 2015, Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns were both new to the UFC. Burns was 7-0, having just notched a couple of wins in the Octagon, and Usman, 5-1 with two exhibition wins on The Ultimate Fighter, was poised to earn his first. Both had already accomplished a great deal in other combat sports: Burns boasted four gold medals in three different World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, and Usman was a gold medalist and three-time All American in NCAA Division II wrestling.
When it came to that other aspect of MMA, though, the part with all the punching and kicking fans can’t get enough of, neither of them really knew what they were doing.