Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
He might have got the stoppage win against Colby Covington, but Kamaru Usman wanted it to be in more dramatic fashion.
Kamaru Usman has disagreed that the stoppage in his fight with Colby Covington at UFC 245 was controversial. Instead, Usman feels referee Marc Goddard saved Covington from himself in the fight.
Usman stopped Covington in the fifth round in their fight last December to retain his welterweight title. Covington has since criticised Goddard’s stoppage in the fight saying he was “robbed” of a fair fight. Talking to MMA Fighting, Usman said he couldn’t disagree more with Covington’s view on the fight.
“You can say it’s controversial but you have to see the referee just saw you take all those big shots in a row,” Usman said. “He has to be able to step in to protect you from yourself so you can live to fight another day.
“The finish, all I could picture in my head was Francis Ngannou-Alistair Overeem finish or Dan Henderson-Michael Bisping,” Usman continued. “That was all I had in my mind, that I wanted to cap that fight off with but I’ll take the finish anyway that I can get it.”
Neither Usman nor Covington have a fight lined up, but it seems plausible top welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal will be next in line for “The Nigerian Nightmare.” Usman said he would like to rematch Covington at some point in the future.
“I hope so,” Usman said. “Because that was a fun fight. Not just myself but I think the media, the fans, everybody believed that was a fun fight.”