UFC Fighter: Kamaru Usman Training Motivation

Kamarudeen Usman was born on May 11, 1987 in Auchi, Nigeria . Her father was in the Nigerian army and her mother was a teacher . Usman and his family immigrated to the United States when he was 8 years old. He began wrestling in a second grade at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas. Because Usman's high school wrestling coach struggled to pronounce his first name Kamarudeen, he was given the nickname "Marty". He kept this nickname throughout his career as an amateur wrestler. After compiling a 53-3 record in high school wrestling, Usman wrestled alongside Jon Jones at the senior national tournament before leaving for college. In college, Usman wrestled in Iowa at William Penn University for a year, where he was NAIA National Qualifier in 2007. He then transferred to the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) and has helped the school win their first-ever team title in 2008. Usman earned Division II All-American honors from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) during the three years he helped UNK and has been a national finalist twice . He became the NCAA Division II National Champion at 174 pounds in 2010 . Additionally, he was a member of the World University Freestyle Wrestling Team in 2010. Usman has a brother, Mohammed, who is also a mixed martial artist . Former National Football League (NFL) star Christian Okoye, who goes by the nickname "The Nigerian Nightmare", gave Usman his blessing for using it.