Kamaru Usman has again been caught using a famous Conor McGregor phrase in an interview where he pretended not to know the Irishman.
The welterweight world champion is the pound-for-pound No.1 fighter in the world, and hasn't lost in the UFC including multiple fights with top contenders in his division. But he has been mocked by fans on occasion for sometimes borrowing from McGregor's playbook of witty one-liners.
And the Nigerian has been caught again, this time recounting a famous McGregor line about "not seeing a face" when he fights an opponent. He told TMZ Sports "I don't see a face. There's an opponent on the dotted line and I just do the best that I can that on that night I step in there and I'm victorious."
McGregor famously told MMAFighting ahead of his fight with Denis Siver in 2015 that he feels something similar going into his fights. He said at the time: "The structure of the face becomes blurry almost. Eventually it just becomes blank, there is no eyes, there is no definition it's just a blank face and a new body type."
This is not an isolated incident with McGregor and Usman, after fans noticed a number of similarities between the pair's trash talk. The Irishman is one of the most renowned speakers in the game, while his rival is generally more the type of fighter who does his talking with his hands.
Perhaps the most noteworthy example would be when Usman declared that it was "green panty night" for opponents when they sign to fight him. One of McGregor's best-known lines was ahead of his ill-fated lightweight title bout with Rafael Dos Anjos in 2016, when he declared that Dos Anjos and his wife would be celebrating a career-high payday with a "red panty night".
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There is also a viral video which McGregor has retweeted showing a series of Usman interviews where he appears to borrow his phrases. One example saw the Irishman saying that he feels Dustin Poirier is "a great fighter", but still "levels below" him before their rematch earlier this year. Usman can then be seen repeating the exact same thing about Jorge Masvidal ahead of one of their two bouts last year.
Another clip shows McGregor, having just beaten Eddie Alvarez in 2016 for the lightweight title, imploring contenders to show him 'activity'. Immediately following his win over Jorge Masvidal in April, Usman made the exact same request of the likes of Colby Covington and Leon Edwards to earn a title fight.
"It is what it is," McGregor joked after being asked by TheMacLife what he makes of Usman stealing his lines during an interview last month. "What is it they say about imitation and flattery and this sort of thing? I don't know."
