Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Colby Covington will finally get his hands on UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman later tonight (Sat., Dec. 14, 2019) at UFC 245 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the two square off in the main event for the undisputed 170-pound crown.
Covington, who has become one of the most hated names in the sport, is eager to get his first real UFC title shot and the chance to settle his ongoing beef with “Nigerian Nightmare.” But just because Usman is champion and more than willing to exchange personal barbs doesn’t mean he’s Covington’s No. 1 enemy. That title actually goes to former UFC welterweight king Tyron Woodley, who Usman claimed the title from back in March.
“I can’t say I have the same energy as I had towards Woodley,” Covington told MMA Fighting about his matchup with Usman. “Because Woodley was such a fake guy, the way he treated me when I was always there to help him with training camps. He’s just a piece of sh*t.
“I remember the first time I saw Woodley at an event, he acted like he didn’t know me, and I’m like you know me. I was just beating your ass a couple of days ago in the gym, and now you want to no-sell me and act like you’re too big and you’re too famous for me now? That was a guy I really wanted to hurt.”
While Woodley could eventually get an opportunity to fight his way back into contention and set up a grudge match with Covington, Usman is the only fighter in Colby’s cross hairs at the moment. Usman is a talented champion with similar skills inside of the Octagon so it’s important that “Chaos” focuses on the task at hand.
“Usman’s just the next guy up,” Covington said. “The next guy up for me to defend my title against. This will be my second title defense. Dan Lambert wants this fight more than any fight in the history of American Top Team. Those are his famous words. Those are words that came out of the godfather, Dan Lambert’s mouth.
“This is the biggest fight in the history of the gym at American Top Team, just with Usman and all the guys from our gym that he’s beat. It’s a massive fight for the gym. For me, it’s just another fight. It’s an easy fight for me.”
Usman, 32, has been unstoppable since making his UFC debut back in 2015. He has produced an undefeated 10-0 record while taking out the likes of Woodley, Demian Maia, and Rafael dos Anjos en route to claiming the title. Usman also became the first Nigerian-born champion in UFC history in the process. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for any fighter, but not something that’s going to impress the likes of “Chaos.”
“The thing that pisses me off the most about ‘Marty Fakenewsman’ is saying that he’s more American than me,” Covington said. “How is he more American than me? My family has served in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War, my family has shed blood for that flag, for the red, white and blue of America. What has his family ever done for America beside serve in the Federal penitentiary?
“That’s why he got the name ‘Marty Fakenewsman’ because everything he says is all lies. He’s out here claiming to be the first Nigerian-born, African champion. He was born in Dallas. He went to college in Nebraska. He was wiping the mats at the Olympic training center in Colorado, and now he lives in Boca Raton (Fla.). There ain’t no Nigerian nightmares in Boca. The only things in Boca are early bird specials.”
Only time will tell if Covington can back up his trash talk and outpace Usman to capture the UFC welterweight championship. Either way, fight fans will still get to see the two very best 170-pound fighters in the world today battle it out for ultimate bragging rights.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 245 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN 2 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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