Colby Covington was recently booked to face Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC on ESPN 5, set for Sat., Aug. 3, 2019 inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. “Chaos” was in line to get the next Welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman, but since “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still recuperating from injury, his return won’t come until later this year.
While disappointed he won’t be able to put hands on Colby right away, Usman says he isn’t too surprised “Chaos” found a way to ruin their championship showdown. And it’s all due to his ever-growing gambling debt, according to Kamaru.
“I literally smacked my head like this kid f***s it up again, again. I said from the start, this was going to be his fight to mess up and that is exactly (why) he did what he just did. Those gambling debts might have caught up to him, you never know the backstory of what is going on,” Kamaru Usman said to TMZ Sports as transcribed by BJPenn.com.
“Debts might have caught up to him, he hasn’t fought for a long time trying to sit out and be a pest to not just to me but to Woodley at some point and also to Dana White at some point.”
This is now the second title fight Covington has missed out on, as he was in line to face former champion Tyron Woodley last year before nagging injuries sent him to the bench. In his place, Usman took on Tyron and dominated him at UFC 235 to win the belt (video here).
Of course, Covington can always get it back as long as he defeats “Ruthless,” but to hear Usman tell it, Colby will have to wait a bit longer as Ben Askren is now next in line
“I need to put my hands on Covington, I gotta get that out of the way. But, Ben Askren is next,” Kamaru Usman said. “He is the representative of this new aid society where trolls and these guys that probably could never touch you or do anything to you feel like because they have a platform on the internet, I am going to talk as reckless as possible,” he added.
“So, I kind of need to humble him up. But, it doesn’t matter, I just want to fight and get back to doing what I love and get back to competing. So it doesn’t matter either of them can get it.”
And just like the, Askren gets his way.
Of course, “Funky” still has to prove victorious against Jorge Masvidal at the upcoming UFC 239 event on July 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. But if he escapes with a win and injury free, it seems a championship fight is in his future after only two UFC wins.