Mohammed Usman, the younger brother of welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, is set to begin his career in the UFC this Saturday when he takes on Zac Pauga at UFC on ESPN 40. Mohammed is no stranger to mixed martial arts, with a fighting record of 7 wins and 2 losses, but he would now try to establish his name in the UFC, just like his brother.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the fight, Mohammed mentioned that he has not been offered any privileges based on his brother’s reputation, saying he had to put in all the work to get to this point: “I had to put the work in to get here. Fighting is fighting. It’s not, ‘Oh, Kamaru’s your brother. Now let’s just push you up here. You’re in the “Ultimate Fighter” finale. You don’t have to fight these two hard monsters that are coming in at 265 pounds to be here. We’ll just put you here because your brother is Kamaru Usman.’

“That’s false. Everything about fighting is yourself. That’s why I love it so much because as much as people speak about my brother, that’s why I love it because I’m still the one that has to go out there and compete and have to fight and have to win for you guys to even be up here and talk crap to me and tell me about my brother. If I don’t win, I’m not even getting up here and looking at you guys.”

But he also said that he does not mind being linked to his brother and recognised that his brother paved the way for him: “He’s an Usman. It’s our last name. I’m here because of my brother for the aspect of he started fighting before me.”

When Mohammed faces Pauga this weekend, it would mean that the Usmans would become the 30fh family duo to be in the UFC. They would join the likes of Gilbert and Herbert Burns, Anthony and Sergio Pettis, Alex and Dominick Reyes, and so on.

Written by: Leon Osamor