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Kamaru Usman Has Brutal Spar With Justin Gaethje Ahead Of UFC 251

Kamaru Usman Has Brutal Spar With Justin Gaethje Ahead Of UFC 251

Usman is preparing with Gaethje for his UFC 251 clash against Gilbert Burns.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

A brutal sparring session between UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Justin Gaethje has emerged online ahead of the welterweight king's fight at UFC 251.

Usman has linked up with Gaethje's head coach Trevor Wittman in Colorado after leaving his long-time team in Florida ahead of his title defence against Gilbert Burns.

He's now training alongside the UFC interim lightweight champion as he prepares for his 'Fight Island' clash on July 11.

And 'The Highlight' posted a video of him exchanging strikes with Usman during a tough spar on social media.

The clip is accompanied with the caption: "Iron sharpens iron. How much would you pay to watch this for a few rounds? @usman84kg is looking like a straight killer. Glad to have him in the room. Just two dudes having fun."

Speaking about his switch of camps, Usman said: "Florida was the base for a long time, but you grow from there.

"We always had a ton of guys, some of the best training partners out there and some great coaches.

"But I wanted a little more specific attention at this point in my career - someone to be able to say; 'You're going to come in at this time and work on this particular skill.'

"It's very tough to do that when there are 40 to 50 guys in the room with you who also need to get attention."

Usman and Burns have spent the last few years training alongside each other.

But 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has removed himself from the team with the Brazilian challenger revealing that head coach Henri Hooft has stepped out of their bout.

"Our main coach, Henri Hooft, he stepped out," he explained.

"He said: 'I don't want to go either way. I don't want to pick a side. You guys train. I'll be here at the gym. If you want to train here, we can train. But I'm not going to the fight.'

"For me, it doesn't change too much. It's just a little weird to fight Kamaru. I really like the guy a lot. We've trained together since 2012 or 2013, so we've put a lot of time together."

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Topics: UFC News, Fight News, UFC, MMA