Frustration has come to a boil as Colby Covington awaits his title rematch, and in the meantime, he took some verbal jabs at UFC champ Kamaru Usman. Kamaru Usman scored a spectacular right-cross knockout against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. The electric …
Frustration has come to a boil as Colby Covington awaits his title rematch, and in the meantime, he took some verbal jabs at UFC champ Kamaru Usman. Kamaru Usman scored a spectacular right-cross knockout against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. The electric event took place in front of a full-capacity VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Since then, […]
Frustration has come to a boil as Colby Covington awaits his title rematch, and in the meantime, he took some verbal jabs at UFC champ Kamaru Usman. Kamaru Usman scored a spectacular right-cross knockout against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. The electric …
Frustration has come to a boil as Colby Covington awaits his title rematch, and in the meantime, he took some verbal jabs at UFC champ Kamaru Usman. Kamaru Usman scored a spectacular right-cross knockout against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. The electric event took place in front of a full-capacity VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Since then, […]
Looks like we haven’t seen the last of the Colby Covington vs. Kamaru Usman rivalry after Covington accused the welterweight champion of robbing him of a title rematch from their first fight at UFC 245. Covington has been sidelined from UFC action since his win over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 […]
Looks like we haven’t seen the last of the Colby Covington vs. Kamaru Usman rivalry after Covington accused the welterweight champion of robbing him of a title rematch from their first fight at UFC 245.
Covington has been sidelined from UFC action since his win over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 last September. He is expected to be Usman’s next opponent after UFC president Dana White endorsed the rematch following the champion’s knockout win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Covington gave some insight on the fight negotiations with Usman and accused the champion of avoiding an octagon sequel with him.
“Marty’s out there, the CEO of EPO, he doesn’t want to fight,” Covington said in an interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn. “He wants to fight lightweights. He probably wants a trilogy with Masvidal. So, it’s a complete joke. I’m going to fight for a world title my next fight, whether it’s going to be Marty, where it’s going to be – we don’t know where, we don’t know who yet, but we will fight for the world title next.”
“He needs to come to see me. This is a fight the fans want to see and if he doesn’t want to fight me and he’s going to run off into the sunset because he’s scared I’m going to take his health, then that’s OK. But I’m still fighting for the world title my next fight, so we’re going to prepare as if we’re fighting for the world title next.”
Covington went on to say that Usman and his team don’t want a rematch due to his inactivity since his fight with Woodley. Covington was reportedly close to fighting Masvidal earlier this year, but negotiations on a fight between the two never materialized.
Usman earned the belt by dominating Woodley en route to a unanimous decision win at UFC 235. He would go on to face Covington in his first title defense, earning the TKO victory in Round 5 in one of the greatest title fights in recent memory.
It’s not exactly a secret that fans of both fighters and the sport, in general, want to see these two bitter rivals square off again in the UFC octagon. While it’s unclear as to why negotiations have stalled, the Covington rematch seems like the most likely next title defense for Usman.
Do you think the Colby Covington vs. Kamaru Usman rematch will happen later this year?
Colby Covington refuses to accept anything less than a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his next fight, and he believes Usman’s disinterest in the rematch is quite telling. At UFC 245, one of the greatest fights in UFC hist…
Colby Covington refuses to accept anything less than a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his next fight, and he believes Usman’s disinterest in the rematch is quite telling. At UFC 245, one of the greatest fights in UFC history took place when Kamaru Usman retained the welterweight title against Colby Covington […]
UFC president, Dana White appears to be keen to push through previously laid out plans for a UFC welterweight championship rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington next — in a re-run of their UFC 245 clash back in December of 2019. Headlining UFC 261 in April at a sold-out Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in […]
UFC president, Dana White appears to be keen to push through previously laid out plans for a UFC welterweight championship rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington next — in a re-run of their UFC 245 clash back in December of 2019.
Prior to the event, White had earmarked a rematch between Usman and Covington if the Auchi native was to overcome Masvidal in Jacksonville, and following his victory, the broadcast team immediately panned to Covington, who was sitting front row in attendance.
In their first showdown, Usman handed the former interim welterweight titleholder a brutal fifth and final round knockout, breaking his jaw earlier in the fight, which was hugely competitive, with many scoring the fight level between the two ahead of the final frame.
Following his stoppage of Masvidal, Usman maintained that he wasn’t shying away from a re-run against Covington, however, questioned what the outspoken wrestler had done to warrant a rematch, given the fact he had compete just three times since 2019.
“I’m not going to say I don’t want the fight,” Usman said when speaking about a potential rematch with Covington. “I want all the smoke, It doesn’t matter who it is. I want all the smoke. At the end of the day, it’s what have you done to earn this?“
“Your claim to fame can’t be, ‘Oh, I went five rounds and then the guy broke my jaw and finished me,’” Usman explained. “That can’t be your claim to fame. (Jorge) Masvidal went five rounds with me too. Tyron Woodley went five rounds with me. You can’t sit around and fight three fights in three years and expect to get a title shot when I just fought three times in nine months. The champion can’t be the most active guy in the division.“
Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz had even mentioned a potential showdown between his client and the #6 ranked challenger, Michael Chiesa — possibly for UFC 263 on June 12. — however, that pairing failed to materialise, with the promotion instead booking a middleweight re-run between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori as the event’s headliner.
Per a report from Yahoo! Sports reporter, Kevin Iole, the aforementioned, White had confirmed to him during an Instagram live session last night that former interim gold holder, Covington would challenge Usman for the undisputed welterweight crown next.
With the promotion targeting a rematch of Usman and Covington, it will mark the second time Usman has attempted to defend his welterweight throne against the same opponent, following his April win over Masvidal which came after a July unanimous decision last year.
Headlining in his last Octagon walk, Covington met with former teammate and welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 in September, besting the St. Louis native over five rounds in a one-sided grappling showcase, before Woodley suffered a rib injury, resulting in a TKO win for Covington.
After his loss to Charles Oliveira, Kevin Lee was inspired by Kamaru Usman’s UFC 262 performance and says that is one of the reasons he’s moving up in weight. Lee will return to the 170lbs weight class to take on another undefeated fighter …
After his loss to Charles Oliveira, Kevin Lee was inspired by Kamaru Usman’s UFC 262 performance and says that is one of the reasons he’s moving up in weight. Lee will return to the 170lbs weight class to take on another undefeated fighter in Sean Brady. Prior to being paired with Brady, Kevin Lee was […]