Nigerian-American mixed martial arts champion, Kamaru Usman, has revealed that he and his family had nothing while in Nigeria before moving on to greener pastures and finding his beloved sport.
The UFC’s current welterweight champion disclosed this and many more in a wide-ranging interview on a Channels TV programme, Gist Nigeria.
The 33-year-old father of one disclosed how he farmed and hawked to secure the next meal.
“We grew up in the village. We farmed. As a small boy, farm boy, I used to hawk Akpu, put hot Akpu on my head. I came from nothing,” Usman started.
The Auchi-born fighter, who moved to USA aged eight, disclosed the everyday family struggle and how his mother catered for himself and two other brothers.
“There is just struggle every day, the struggle to, how are we gonna eat next week, next month. What are we gonna do?
“We owned a small store where we sold clothes, we sold shoes, my mum sold bags, anything that we could sell, my mum was able to get and try to sell. My mum was a hustler and that is one of the things I respect so much about her as a woman with three rowdy Naija boys.”
The three-time defending champion whose father went to prison while he was still in college further revealed the father-daughter bond he enjoys with his five-year-old daughter, Samirah, who was once his gym partner.“My daughter, Samirah, I love her to death. She’s very intriguing to me because from about six months to about three and half years of her life, she went to the gym with me every day. Then she hit about five years and then she started saying, ‘you know I’m not going to do this daddy, right. You know I’m not going do this sport.’ (DailyTrust)
