Colby
Covington claims his two title losses against Kamaru
Usman played significant role in Leon
Edwards’ eventual victory over “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
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Covington is currently scheduled to challenge Edwards for the
welterweight strap at
UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Covington will receive that opportunity despite not having fought
since outpointing Jorge
Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022. “Chaos” is 2-2 in his last
four Octagon appearances, with both of those defeats coming at the
hands of Usman in welterweight title bouts.
Covington claims that his UFC 245 and UFC 268 losses against Usman
took the fight out of “The Nigerian Nightmare,” which led to him
getting dethroned by Edwards at UFC 278.
“No doubt about it, I took the fight out of Usman,” Covington told
UFC.com. “His chin was never the same, and I’m the one that
loosened up that chin. I head kicked him and had him on wobbly
legs, then he calls timeout. It’s not like Leon did something that
I hadn’t already done.”
Edwards upset Usman with a fifth-round head kick KO at UFC 278
before defending his title with a majority decision win in their
rematch at UFC 286. Covington believes Usman wasn’t the same
fighter going into the rematch after having been put to sleep in
the first outing.
“You can tell [Usman] was just hesitant, and that knockout really
affected him,” Covington said. “I don’t know, I’ve never been
knocked unconscious like that, laying in that Octagon. I don’t know
what that feels like and being trigger shy. All I know is one pace
and that’s go forward and show the world who the cardio king
is.”
While Covington hasn’t fought since a lopsided decision victory
over Masvidal in March 2022, he weighed in as the backup for the
rematch between Edwards and Usman this past March. Covington claims
he had to work harder for his title shot than Edwards did.
“He had the right matchups at the right time to get to that point
in his career,” Covington said. “He fought a lightweight washout in
Nate
Diaz and sat out almost two years to get his title shot. I
don’t think he warranted getting a title shot after beating that
guy.
“He just cried, ‘I deserve this, I deserve that’, instead of just
going out there and working for it or earning it like I did. I had
to earn it the hard way. No one gave me this spot to fight for the
undisputed title. I had to earn it. I had to go the unconventional
way because the straight-ahead way wasn’t available. He didn’t earn
it the hard way like I did, and Dec. 16 he’s going to find out that
he’s going to get broken by the American dream.”