UFC's Kamaru Usman: We're still the Blackzilians, but we just don't have a big gym anymore

After conflicting accounts of the Blackzilians’ rumored demise, UFC welterweight Kamaru Usman said the team is still going strong.

“Honestly, for us, nothing changed,” Usman (9-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie backstage this past weekend while at UFC on FOX 23 in Denver. “The only change is we don’t have a big fancy gym, and some of the guys aren’t managed by Glenn (Robinson).”

Earlier this month, Blackzilians founder Robinson told MMAjunkie the famed team is in transition after a move to a new facility and the departure of longtime coach Henri Hooft, who denied he left to start his own squad despite being a shareholder at a new facility.

The behind-the-scenes drama hasn’t affected “The Ultimate Fighter 21” winner Usman, who said he still trains with the same band of UFC vets who’ve come to represent the Blackzilians since its formation in 2011. Although multiple reports have indicated financial troubles and dissension in the ranks, Usman said the team is more than a name that carries weight in the MMA world. It’s a group of guys who enjoy working together.

As Usman waits for his next booking, a greater concern is making sure the UFC takes notice of his accomplishments in the octagon. Despite a 4-0 UFC record, he said the promotion looks at him as a grinding wrestler – in other words, not fit for prime time – and isn’t promoting him as well as it could.

Usman has proposed to make the UFC’s job easy by laying out a path to the title with his next three opponents. He said UFC officials have yet to take him up on that.

“The UFC can make anyone a star,” Usman said. “It’s just they have to believe in you and put the time and money and effort into to you to know it’s going to pay dividends. So, (they aren’t yet promoting me as strongly as possible). When I get back inside the cage, I just have to show them I said what I wanted, and I can prove that. It’s show and prove. That’s how the game goes.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.