Colby Covington believes he has earned the right to a trilogy bout with the man that has already dispatched him twice, Kamaru Usman.
Chaos’ is currently awaiting his third opportunity at the UFC welterweight title, as promised by Dana White despite a lack of activity or notable wins in the last four years. Covington will go toe-to-toe with reigning champion Leon Edwards later this year, but the outspoken 170-pound contender revealed in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview that he would happily welcome a trilogy bout with former titleholder Kamaru Usman.
“Yeah, definitely. We’re tied 1-1 right now. He got lucky the first time with a fake ref and fake judges,” Covington told James Lynch. It was terrible. Early stoppage, fake nut shot, eye pokes. He cheated multiple times in the fight. Okay, maybe he got one fake mythical fight in the first one, but everybody knew in Madison Square Garden the second fight that we fought, I beat him. It was three rounds to two. I went going away [with] the last three rounds. I walked out of that building clean as f*ck. Rounds three, four, and five, beating his a**. Dropping him in the fourth. Just beating him.”
Despite his best efforts to rewrite history, Colby Covington is in fact not tied with Kamaru Usman. ‘Chaos’ was finished in their first meeting, suffering a fifth-round knockout at UFC 245. After bouncing back with a win over a past-his-prime Tyron Woodley nearly a year later, Covington scored himself a rematch with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 268. Covington once again came up short losing by way of a unanimous decision.
Colby Covington Believes He Has Earned a Trilogy Fight Against Kamaru Usman
Despite the losses being fairly decisive, Colby Covington believes that he is not only better than Kamaru Usman, but he also believes that he has done enough to deserve a trilogy fight.
“I’m better than him and now you’re starting to see it,” Covington continued. “He’s starting to slow down and I’m only getting better. I’m going up and he’s coming down. Of course, I would love to get the Usman trilogy. I think that’s a fight I would love to have for my legacy. I think that’s a fight I deserve and I’ve earned.
“He already knew after Madison Square Garden, he was like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna have to do a trilogy.’ He knew it. He knew it. He knew deep down inside after we were done with that fight, we looked eye-to-eye and I gave him the promo code Colby over at MyBookie and he said, ‘Yeah, man. Dude, you brought it. You got my number.’
“So if that trilogy lines up down the line, let’s do it. I’d be excited and I’d welcome that fight with open arms,” Covington concluded.
Colby Covington’s last appearance inside the Octagon came more than a year ago when he outwrestled rival Jorge Masvidal to a unanimous decision victory at UFC 272. ‘Gamebred’ retired from the sport following his loss to Gilbert Burns last month, but has seemingly left the door open for a potential return.