“I remember very, very clearly being afraid to go to the gym on sparring days because you knew when they were going to call you out,” Usman said of the collection that included Anthony Johnson, Michael Johnson, JZ Cavalcante, and Jorge Santiago, who remains one of his coaches to this day. “I’m just starting out and I have to survive in a room like this? It’s dreadful.
“Then it became a time where I wasn’t the guy getting beaten up anymore; I was able to at least defend myself. That ultimately is what built that confidence to where when I go into these fights, of course they’re all tough — I know they’re tough — but I’ve survived a room full of killers like The Blackzilians.”
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Usman rose through the welterweight ranks, rattling off eight straight victories after joining the fraternity of Ultimate Fighter winners with a second-round submission win over Hayder Hassan in his UFC debut.
He steamrolled Tyron Woodley to claim championship gold at UFC 235, but just as he was settling in as champion, the dynamics of the gym started changing and Usman began sensing it was time to make a shift. While they weren’t still called “The Blackzilians,” many of the same fighters and coaches continued to work together — at H Kickboxing, at Hard Knocks 365, and then at Sanford MMA, with Henri Hooft serving as the chief striking coach at each stop.
As the numbers in the gym grew, individual attention became harder to come by, and when he ultimate reached a point where he was set to defend his belt against long-time teammate and training partner Gilbert Burns, he pulled the trigger on shifting camps, relocating to Denver, Colorado to work with Trevor Wittman.
