The man who is likely next in line for a shot at welterweight gold
was not impressed with Kamaru
Usman’s performance at UFC 261.
Usman dispatched Jorge
Masvidal via second-round knockout in Saturday’s headliner at
Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. “The
Nigerian Nightmare” drew the rivalry with Masvidal to an emphatic
close after taking a five-round verdict against the American Top
Team product in their first meeting at UFC 251 this past July.
Usman has now won 14 fights in row in UFC competition and looks to
be one of the most dominant champions in the sport.
Still, it should come as no surprise that Colby
Covington didn’t have anything positive to say about Usman’s
latest triumph, which came against Covington’s former training
partner.
“It took eight minutes longer than when I would finish Jorge
Masvidal every time we trained,” Covington said on the ESPN
post-fight show. “That guy’s a journeyman. What’s he got, 15, 20
losses on his record. You shouldn’t be happy and praising yourself
for beating a journeyman like that. There’s a reason he’s a
backstabber, a street Judas and a bum. If I lost the next 12 fights
in a row, I still have a better record than journeyman
Masvidal.”
While Usman used his wrestling to thwart Masvidal at UFC 251, his
striking took center stage on Saturday. It was his third win by
knockout or technical knockout in four title defenses. According to
Covington, “Gamebred” left himself open because he was overly
concerned with being taken down.
“I definitely knew it was a possibility [that Usman would win by
knockout], because he puts the threat of the takedown, and that’s
what Masvidal was worried about,” Covington said. “[Masvidal]
didn’t want to get taken down and stopped, so he’s worried about
getting taken down, and boom, he hits him with a right hand. He has
his hands down.
After the event, UFC president Dana White reiterated his plan to
book a rematch between Usman and Covington next. Usman defeated
Covington via fifth-round technical knockout at UFC 245 in December
2019.
“It’s a different style matchup when I’m fight Marty. He knows he
can’t take me down,” Covington said. I’m going to take him down
into deep waters, and I’m going to finish him. There’s no more fake
nut shots next time.
“..We’re getting better every single day. My striking is on a whole
other level. What has to go different is I have to put a higher
pace on him next time. I didn’t put enough pace on him last time
and just keep my hands up. I know I’m going to get my hand raised
when I fight him.”