In his first fight bout in about two years, Nigerian fighter Kamaru Usman returned to the limelight with a dominant victory over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night in Atlanta on Saturday.

The former welterweight champion, aside from being out of the cage for roughly two years, was on a three-match losing streak that naturally made his relevance wane and positioned him as the underdog against an opponent on a six-bout winning streak. It also didn’t help perceptions ahead of the match that four of Buckley’s last six victories were knockout wins.

However, at the end of the night, it was Usman who came out on top with a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout for the 38-year-old with scores of 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 to hand him his first victory since November 2021.

“It feels good,” Usman said about the win. “It’s been a while; I needed to get that monkey off my back. I know I’m still able to do this at the highest level. Sometimes, when you’re going up against a young, hungry guy like that — very talented, very aggressive — you’ve got to pull out the skills and use the experience. That’s what I did tonight.”

The Nigerian Nightmare landed 127 of 217 total strikes with an accuracy rate of 58.5 percent. Buckley, on the other hand, connected on 28 of 94 strikes, with a 29.8 percent accuracy rate. Usman also led in significant strikes, landing 31 of 73, while Buckley landed 24 of 90.

The victory improved Usman’s professional MMA record to 21-4. And though the night didn’t end with a UFC belt around Usman’s waist, the victory puts him back into the title equation, where he may have to go through a prior toll before earning a new title shot.