Translate

Sunday, November 7, 2021

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman & The Nigerian Saying "Naija No Dey Carry Last"



BT SportNov 7, 2021

Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington shared a moment of respect after an incredible second fight at UFC 268.

Usman triumphed by decision at #UFC268.

****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and information about the Nigerian saying "Naija No Dey Carry Last" that he is known for uttering after some of his competitions.

The Addendum to this post provides information about a 2016 book entitled "Naija No Dey Carry Last".

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Kamaru Usman for his accomplishments and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT KAMARU USMAN
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamaru_Usman
"
Kamarudeen "Kamaru" Usman (born May 11, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the reigning UFC Welterweight Champion. Usman was also The Ultimate Fighter 21 tournament winner. As of September 27, 2021 he is #1 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.[7]

Background

Usman was born in Auchi, Nigeria.[11] His father was a major in the Nigerian Army and his mother was a teacher.[12][13][14] He has two brothers, Kashetu and Mohammed, of whom the former is a Doctor of Pharmacy and the latter is a mixed martial artist.[13][15] Growing up with his mother and two brothers in Benin City, Usman struggled with the conditions in his environment during his childhood.[16] Usman's father Muhammed Nasiru Usman, who became a pharmacist in the United States, brought his family into the country when Usman was eight years old, immigrating to Dallas, Texas.[17]

[…]

Wrestling career

Usman started wrestling in his sophomore year in high school, at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas. Because Usman's wrestling coach at the time had trouble pronouncing his first name Kamarudeen, he got the nickname "Marty" when he joined the team and it stuck with him during his amateur wrestling career

[…]

2021

Usman was once again scheduled to defend his title against BJJ World Champion Gilbert Burns, on December 12, 2020 at UFC 256.[74] However, on October 5, 2020, It was reported that Usman had pulled out from the bout, citing more time needed to recover from undisclosed injuries[75] and the bout was postponed for February 13, 2021, as the headliner for UFC 258.[76] Usman defended his title for the third time, as he won the fight via technical knockout in the third round, surpassing the record of the former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre for the largest win-streak in the division with thirteen.[77] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.[78]

For his fifth title bout, Usman rematched against Jorge Masvidal for the UFC Welterweight Championship on April 24, 2021 at UFC 261 in Florida.[79] He successfully defended his title after knocking out Masvidal in the second round, becoming the first one to do so in the UFC.[80] This win earned Usman his fourth Performance of the Night bonus award.[81]

Usman rematched Colby Covington for the UFC Welterweight Championship on November 6, 2021 at UFC 268.[82] Usman retained his championship, being declared the winner via unanimous decision.[8]"...

****
TWEETS ABOUT KAMARU USMAN'S WIN AGAINST COLBY COVINGTON [Nov. 6, 2021]

https://twitter.com/search?q=Usman

SuperSport Trophy

@SuperSportTV

[drawing of Flag of Nigeria] 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 [drawing of Flag of Nigeria]

Nov. 7, 2021

The 'Nigerian Nightmare' Kamaru Usman beats Colby Covington via unanimous decision to retain his welterweight title at #UFC268 [emoji of Fisted hand]

**

D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball

@NigeriaBasket

Nov. 7, 2021

THE KING. Naija no dey carry last.

Congrats to our friend!

@USMAN84kg

****
EXCERPT FROM A MAY 2021 ARTICLE ABOUT KAMARU USMAN
From https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/why-ufc-welterweight-champion-kamaru-usman-say-naija-dey-carry-last-mean by Rafael Bandayrel,18 May 2021
"UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has uttered the phrase "Naija no dey carry last" a couple of times in the octagon. However, most non-Nigerian UFC fans don't have the slightest clue as to what the line means.

So, what does Kamaru Usman's catchphrase mean?

The five-word Pidgin phrase is a popular Nigerian saying that serves as the unofficial national motto. In English, it loosely translates to "Nigerians strive to finish first."

In an interview with fellow Nigerian and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, Kamaru Usman revealed what the motto means and how significant it is to him:

[Pancocojams Editor; This conversation is from a video embedded in that article and also embedded on twitter May 17, 2021]

 Emmanuel Acho

@EmmanuelAcho

The true Nigerian came out of me on live TV when talking to the greatest fighter on the planet,

@USMAN84kg

I had to ask, “What does Naija no dey carry last mean to you?” 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬

"It means the world to me because growing up, I used to hear that phrase, hear that saying all the time. And I never really knew what that meant until I got to the point where I was able to compete. Because it means, at the end of the day – and it ties into so many things – it means at the end of the day it doesn't matter what's going on. It doesn't matter how much obstacles, how much pressure, or how many things are weighing us down. At the end of the day, we ain't going to be last."

Kamaru Usman blurted out the phrase after finishing off Gilbert Burns to defend his crown. Earlier in his career, Kamaru Usman used the same motto after dominating Brazilian legend Demain Maia at UFC Fight Night 129.

According to 'The Nigerian Nightmare', the phrase grew more meaningful to his life as he soared to new heights of success.

"We're still gonna struggle, we're gonna fight for everything that we've got. And we'll never come in last place. So that means the world to me when I get to say that because now, I'm in the position to where I'm a symbol of hope for my people," said Usman.

Kamaru Usman's domination

Kamaru Usman is the owner of the longest winning streak in the history of the UFC welterweight division. The Nigerian equaled octagon legend Georges St-Pierre's record of 13 consecutive wins after his win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258. Usman broke his own record by knocking out Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, taking his winning streak to 14.

More than that, Kamaru Usman is only two wins away from overtaking Anderson Silva's winning streak and three victories shy of dethroning Jon Jones as the record holder for the longest winning streak in UFC history.”
-snip-
The words in italics were written that way in that article.

****
ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT THE 2016 BOOK ENTITLED "NAIJA NO DEY CARRY LAST"
From https://www.amazon.com/Naija-No-Dey-Carry-Last-ebook/dp/B01CUXLFXU Naija No Dey Carry Last: Thoughts on a Nation in Progress by Pius Adesanmi (Author), Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 11, 2016Publisher ‏ : ‎ Parrésia Publishers Ltd. and Worldreader (March 11, 2016);  Language ‏: ‎ English

"Naija No Dey Carry Last is a collection of essays detailing Pius Adesanmi's observations, thoughts, and reactions on Nigeria. As a public intellectual, Pius Adesanmi has taken on both quotidian and 'hallowed' issues and made them accessible to the reader. The reader is served, as it were, not just the facts, but the tongue-in-cheek opinion of the author's obviously intellectual capacities.

Divided into three parts, Naija No Dey Carry Last first tackles recent political history. The second part titled, “In The Beginning Was The Word,” uses the English of the King James version of the Bible to parody Nigeria's incongruent realities. The last part is a series of open letters in which the author tackles the funny metonymies of the most populous black nation in the world.

[…]

About the Author

Pius Adesanmi is a Professor of English and African Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is the internationally-acclaimed winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African Writing in the non-fiction category in 2010. He has also won the poetry prize of the Association of Nigerian Authors. He is one of Nigeria's leading public intellectuals and is one of the first leading African academics to use social media as a classroom to test out his ideas and engage with Nigeria. He is a connoisseur of palm wine and French wine, thinks in Yoruba and Pidgin English but writes only in English and French.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

No comments:

Post a Comment