Ex-UFC Champion Defends Khabib Nurmagomedov's 'Women Are Weaker' Comments

Former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman has defended Khabib Nurmagomedov's controversial stance on women in MMA. 

Nurmagomedov made headlines with a traditionalist take on gender roles after being asked his thoughts on women in combat sports, opining that "women are weaker" than men as he reasoned why he wouldn't recommend it for them. The comments prompted backlash from fans and professionals, including reigning UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko.

But speaking on the matter during his "Pound4Pound" podcast alongside Henry Cejudo, Usman said he understands what Nurmagomedov meant as someone of a different culture.

"I completely understood where he went, because I am from a different culture, and I think it's just a cultural thing," Usman said. "I think it's just his way of expressing himself, where this has absolutely nothing to with what the society or the American public is taking this as. He didn't mean that, 'Oh, women can't do anything, women are just little weaklings.' He didn't mean that."

Usman went on to say that fighting is a "rough sport" and that belief system comes from the societal norm where men would be expected to do the violent work while women and children stayed at home. 

"Everybody knows that men war. This was the premise of why you draft the men to go to war and the women and children stay at home. That's exactly what that is. He's not saying women are weak, women can't do anything. But it's just taken out of context. He meant that it's a violent thing that men do, and that's why you leave that to violent men sometimes."