Kamaru Usman claims Conor McGregor may come back but “he is done as a champion”

Kamaru Usman doesn’t believe Conor McGregor will return to take the belt.

Former UFC two-division king McGregor is long past his glory days in the promotion. After suffering a horrific leg break injury in his last outing, McGregor has been on the sidelines in recovery. While a timeline for his comeback bout is yet to be determined, he has expressed interest in going up to welterweight for the title.

Kamaru Usman: Conor McGregor may come back but he is done as a champion

In an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Usman shared his thoughts on “Notorious” fighting him for the 170 lb gold.

“He’s not necessarily done, but he’s done as a champion,” Usman said (ht MMA Junkie). “This is my perspective, because when I fight guys, I study their hearts. When I watch fights, I watch their heart and for me, he’s done. He’s done, because I don’t know whether the goal was to get the money.

“I don’t know if that’s what it was, because there’s a story about him: He was broke. For me, it seemed like it was about not being broke, getting money. So I understand that. Now he’s not broke. But how are you gonna be champion, because that’s what drove you to become champion, because you didn’t want to be broke? Now you’re not broke anymore.”

Usman would be willing to fight McGregor

While Usman may not believe the Irish icon has the fire to become the UFC champion again, he would not mind scrapping it out with him inside the octagon.

“He could call me out, but that don’t mean he’s going to fight me,” Usman said. “It’s not necessarily that they protect him, because he’s bigger to where he can pick, where he can call his shots.

“He’s that big. Conor can say, ‘I’m going to fight you tomorrow,’ and he’s still gonna sell 1 million buys… absolutely, I’d grab that check.”