Kamaru Usman made waves a few weeks ago when it was revealed that the UFC welterweight champion was interested in fighting then-champion Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight. It was a surprise considering he is a welterweight and fights two weight classes beneath the Polish champion.

Kamaru Usman spoke to CBS Sports where he explained why he wanted the fight. It was a surprise from the UFC welterweight champion considering a move to light heavyweight had never been talked about before.

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“I thought about it. This was news last week and I got some flak for it. People were thinking, ‘Oh, no, he’s just saying this.’ No, I was very serious, because Israel Adesanya is the middleweight champion and Jan Blachowicz was the light heavyweight champion, I saw that matchup and I said, ‘Hey, that’s a fight that I can deal with. It’s Jan. No disrespect to Jan. I think he’s a great competitor, he’s a very powerful guy, he’s got a lot of power in his hands, but I thought that was a matchup that favored me,” UFC champion Usman said.

“I thought if I had skipped the middleweight class, went up to light heavyweight, I definitely would be a champ-champ. But unfortunately, he’s no longer the champ, so I will stay put where I am, and we’ll have that conversation if it happens.”

It appears Kamaru Usman will continue to fight at welterweight and defend his UFC championship belt. Israel Adesanya remains the middleweight champion after winning at UFC 271.