Kamaru Usman Savagely Trolls Jorge Masvidal In Post-Fight Press Conference

Kamaru Usman gave a brutally mocking response when asked about his extra finishing blows during his second-round KO of Jorge Masvidal.

The UFC welterweight champion caught Masvidal with an explosive right hand that put him down and out, then pounced with five hammer fists to his prone opponent.

Referee Herb Dean should arguably have been quicker on the stoppage - but Usman was asked post-fight if it "felt good to get some of those extra shots in there" given the bad blood that's marked their rivalry.

After a sarcastic shrug, Usman replied deadpan: "Extra shots. What do you mean?" The reporter added: "Maybe one or two..."

Usman responded: "Well, the ref didn't pull me off yet. So I keep going... and, you know, those were super-necessary."

Cue laughter from the media, because "super-necessary" is the exact way Masvidal sarcastically described his own follow-up blows on a knocked out Ben Askren in 2019. And - as Usman's facial expressions indicated - he knew the finishing punches this weekend were not "super-necessary" at all.

Masvidal and Usman actually shared a sporting embrace post-fight. The 36-year-old challenger openly admitted: "He's got my number, man" after his second defeat to Usman (and this one even more conclusive than his unanimous decision defeat in 2020).

It appeared that the two had buried the hatchet on their rivalry. However at that moment in the Octagon in Florida, Usman was clearly still fired up - as his emotional post-fight celebration showed.

While 'The Nigerian Nightmare' is entirely correct in that he is supposed to keep fighting until the referee leaps in, Usman likely knew that Masvidal was out the moment his pulverising straight right sent his foe to the mat.

So the 33-year-old could probably have given referee Dean an opening to jump in after the first couple of hammer fists landed. But whether he was just being professional or wanted to land a couple of extra punches on the famously provocative Masvidal, we couldn't possibly say.

Usman definitely called them "super-necessary" in the post-fight presser - and managed to just about keep a straight face while doing so.

So let's take Usman at his word, as he's clearly not a man we want to argue with.

Topics: Jorge Masvidal, UFC, MMA, Kamaru Usman

Alex Reid

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

@otheralexreid