- Hello, yeah, yeah.
Yeah it's me.
Pound for pound, best in the world.
Yeah, yeah it's me.
[upbeat music]
What's up GQ Sports.
This is Kamaru Usman a.k.a The Nigerian Nightmare,
and this is how I made, spent and saved my first million.
[upbeat music]
I was born and raised in, a bit in Auchi, Nigeria.
We farmed and we did everything.
Immigrated here to the States at about eight years old.
Growing up, we learned a lot of money lessons
from my parents.
One of my first real hustle was flipping Pokemon cards.
So I found a good supplier
where I could buy the collection of cards
at about six, seven bucks,
and I would get one or two rare cards in there,
that I would turn around and flip
for about 25, sometimes even 40,
depending on the scarcity of that card.
So that was my hustle.
Everybody had a good Christmas that year.
After leaving college,
I got an opportunity to be a coach
on season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter.
As it come full circle,
I end up on the season 21.
So I end up winning that season.
Started my UFC career.
Making that transition
was probably one of the scariest decisions.
I've been doing wrestling for a long, long time
and wrestling was still control.
I knew how to defend myself,
but now going all the way into this completely new sport,
it's nerve wracking, I was scared of it,
but I was courageous towards it.
When I've had to of course I have different jobs
in a while wrestling,
I worked at Applebee's.
It was a fun job.
I worked with some very, very fun people
out there in Nebraska.
It really helped me understand working for your money.
Then once I got more and more into MMA,
my first fight, I made one on one, which is good.
And first fight 1,000, 1000.
My opponent missed his weight,
so I got I think a extra $250 from him.
So fast forward a few years, to how I made my first million.
[upbeat music]
My first fight in the UFC was a good one
because I ended up getting a bonus.
So it's an extra 50,000.
So I'm like, "I'm rich, I'm rich."
The fight that really broke it for me
and hit me and let me know,
oh, wow, we're making a little bit of money now.
I would say it was my Sean Strickland fight.
I ended up walking away with like over 70 bands.
I'm like, "Oh, that's more than a teacher salary.
I'm good. I'm rich."
So that was the first fight,
that I had a significant cushion in life,
for my family.
So my second headline fight,
which was RDA, Rafael dos Anjos.
I think that was the first time I seen six figures.
That Tuesday, when that direct deposit hit the account,
I just stared at the account,
just stared at those zeros.
Oh man, I'm here.
So when you become a champion, you're not just a fighter,
you're a business partner and business has been good.
I'm not exactly at liberty to tell you exactly what I made,
but with the performances that I've been putting on lately,
I have to say these are starting to stack up
a little bit more, more.
Cool, all right, so we talked about
how I made my first million,
now let's talk about how I spent my first million.
[upbeat music]
Well, my daughter's birthday was the first big purchase.
I had to go big.
So between that and I bought a nice white Nissan Maxima.
So a combination of both cost me about 30,000.
It was just such an extravagant party.
We had everything, we had catered food.
Grandma's like a party planner.
And she's amazing with kid's parties.
At the time, not a Nissan Maxima wasn't the dream car,
the Nissan Maxima was the fliest car in that budget range.
So I was young, my uncle was always,
if you had a little bit of change,
he was bawling in the Maxima.
Actually they were bawling in the Altimas.
The Maxima was a step up.
I felt real bossy, driving my Maxima.
[upbeat music]
The next purchase was a Rolex.
I would say all in all, with the tax and everything,
the shipping, it's close to about 20,000.
After the RDA fight,
going into the Woodley fight,
it was just something about
my manifestation with the work that I've put in.
I'm about to become world champion,
so I need to look like a world champion.
I need that Rolex.
So my coach and his wife took me to a jeweler,
and in Florida and I was able to go in,
and see all the watches.
And I'm like, "Yo, I like this."
And I go over to the Rolex, I see the big presidential,
I'm like, "I want that."
And then they showed me the price tag,
I was like, "Nah, I want the other one.
I want that one."
I found one that was just beautiful.
It was nice. It went with everything.
And it just made me feel that feeling.
[upbeat music]
Each and every fight,
I make sure that my trainers
and my coaches are taken care of,
because they make a lot of sacrifices for me
to give me that time.
And really give me that extra special attention.
So after fights,
I always wanna make sure
that I deviate at least 20% on the side for them,
and I always wanna make sure that they're taken care of
and that they feel appreciated for the time,
the work and the effort that they put into me.
So I would say about all in all, I allocate about 20%.
So about 200,000 that I've taken care of for them.
[upbeat music]
The most important thing for me is my daughter,
making sure that she's good.
So she's in a private school.
So each year that runs me about close to 10,000 to 15,000.
She's in the second grade,
so all in all, I allocate almost 30,000,
but it's my daughter and she's worth it.
She used to always like hit mitts with me in the garage.
And she already told me,
she said with that little attitude in her eyes,
"You know I'm not gonna be a fighter."
I'm like, "I don't want you to be a fighter.
I want you to be a doctor."
She goes, "Well, I don't know, we'll see."
That's how she answers me.
"I don't know. We'll see."
Don't really have a dream school for her,
but as an immigrant,
I understand which schools I would like for her to go to.
Sounds better for me to tell my friends
my daughter goes to Harvard, to Stanford.
Those I believe still hold precedent.
If I had a choice, I would want her to go to one of those,
on a full scholarship of course.
[upbeat music]
500,000, half a million. That was the house.
I ain't really get the infinity pool,
but somebody cuts my grass.
We got that. I bought it after the last fight.
So everything's been getting
like the designer's been sending stuff over.
I just was able to spend the first night in it.
It was a good feeling.
[techno music]
[upbeat music]
Everything I always heard,
"Yeah, you got to put money in the market.
You got to invest in this, invest, invest."
I'm like, "All right."
I didn't really know what I was doing,
so a friend introduced me to some lady who invests for you.
So she approaches me, we have a conversation,
we talk, she was attractive.
Of course, nothing happened on that front,
but she was attractive.
So it was very easy to be distracted.
Give her about almost $60,000.
Haven't seen that money since.
Yeah, I don't think I did my due diligence
as far as the homework and the research behind this person.
Gave her about 60 bands and,
[whistles]
just flew away.
[upbeat music]
So after that one,
I had a pretty bad taste in my mouth for investing,
but somehow I was talked into investing again.
This time I was around some wise people.
I went in on the market myself this time,
invested another 30k which has paid off, big time.
[techno music]
[upbeat music]
So the next big purchase that I bought
is of course, new house, new whip, you got boss up now.
Got the Range Rover,
the Villar though,
the Villar, the Villar was nice,
it was smooth, it was just came out, I loved it.
Black on black with the nice leather.
I ran me about 80,000 for that.
[upbeat music]
My oldest brother, Dr. Usman is getting married.
I was part of this wedding, getting married too.
So I was partially responsible for kicking in.
Doing some business with my brother now, investing again,
starting to really diversify the portfolio.
We went in on some real estate,
and then I also kicked in for his wedding.
So all in all, around and round,
I would say about 50,000.
[techno music]
It makes me feel good
that they were able to experience that,
that I was able to experience those things,
because now when it's actually in front of you,
this is just paper,
but this paper created so many memories in those times.
It's a feeling that you can't really replace.
You can't replicate that feeling.
I'm totally grateful for this, but at the end of the day,
it's just paper.
Alright GQ Sports,
you guys saw and heard how I made, saved,
and of course spent my first million and I appreciate it.
Thank you.
I'ma see you all later. I'ma see you all later.