Unlike most welterweight contenders, Jorge Masvidal backs a Kamaru Usman title shot.

The likes of Belal Muhammad and Ian Machado Garry are not sold on Usman as a deserving contender for UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), but Masvidal disagrees. He thinks the former champ has the skill set to pose Makhachev the most problems.

Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) showed he can still hang with the upper echelon of the division when he snapped Joaquin Buckley’s six-fight winning streak with a dominant performance in June.

“That’s somebody that I know personally could wrestle back into Makhachev,” Masvidal said of Usman on his “Death Row MMA” podcast. “That’s his forte, that’s what Usman started with is his grappling background. Usman is no pushover in the wrestling. I think he’s better on the feet, he’s bigger, he’s longer, he’s stronger, and he has more experience fighting long fights on his feet, and using his defensive wrestling like he did with rat-face Colby (Covington’s) b*tch ass. I actually thought he beat the 185 champ currently, Khamzat (Chimaev), on like 11 days’ notice.

“I think this is the most dangerous fight for Makhachev at 170. That’s a big step up in competition. Jack Della Maddalena, who I think is phenomenal on the feet, has some of the best hands on the roster, and his wrestling defense isn’t bad either. He’s a good scrambler and stuff, but he’s not on Usman’s level in any way with defensive powers. Usman can wrestle defensively. This is one of the toughest fights for Makhachev, and I don’t know if they’re going to want to take that one.”

Masvidal, who lost twice to Usman in title fights, took issue with Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) calling his former foe irrelevant.

“I never thought I’d actually be here advocating for Usman on anything, but here I am,” Masvidal said. “Him calling Usman a ‘has-been’ is so crazy because you’ve never even been. You’re not nothing. You might be a contender right now. You beat Belal but you had to eye poke him twice to do that – it wasn’t like you stopped him. I never see nobody talking about this guy like he deserves the next title shot. It’s only him and his wife.

“Maybe he is pushing 40 years old, Usman, but I still see Usman beating the crap out of Ian Garry. Ian Garry is not the best welterweight out there, but he was born with some gifts. He’s massive, he’s like a light heavyweight at welterweight, but I think a lot of guys would rock his sh*t. He’s already been rocked by Shavkat (Rakhmonov), who I think is the one of the most deserving at 170 pounds. … But for him to say Usman is irrelevant is like, man, the f*ck have you done?”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jorge Masvidal: Kamaru Usman toughest test for Islam Makhachev