According to Colby
Covington, Kamaru
Usman would’ve paid dearly if he hadn’t agreed to their rematch
in the UFC 268 main event.
Usman and Covington initially fought at UFC 245 in December 2019,
with Usman retaining his welterweight crown with a fifth-round
technical knockout victory. Covington has campaigned for a rematch
since then but claims that Usman and his team did everything in
their power to avoid the return date.
In the meantime, Covington returned to action with a fifth-round
TKO win over Tyron
Woodley in September 2020. Usman has been more active, with a
pair of successful title defenses against Jorge
Masvidal as well as a victory over Gilbert
Burns.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen. They did not want it to happen,”
Covington told ESPN. “His
manager, they were refusing. They were trying to find every way in
the book out of fighting this rematch. They didn’t want this fight,
man, and the only reason they have to take it is the UFC gave him
no choice. They said, ‘Hey, you fight this fighter or we just strip
you – it’s one or the other.’ You’ve got to come out and prove
you’re the best in the world. There needs to be no controversies
surrounding this fight, so it’s been tough.
“I had to go out and finish a former world champion in Woodley. He
got two easy paychecks against lightweights that should have never
been there. In his last fight, he’s beaten a guy ‘Street Judas’
Masvidal. I was beating that guy decades ago. That’s not an
achievement. You’re proud for beating that guy? That guy is a
lightweight, he shouldn’t even be up here at the top of the
mountain.”
Covington, of course, is known for his over-the-top bluster, so
it’s unclear if the UFC truly did threaten such extreme measures
against Usman, who by and large has been an active champion since
winning the belt in March 2019. Covington is not impressed by
Usman’s recent performances, when “The Nigerian Nightmare” scored
back-to-back KO/TKO wins over Burns and Masvidal.
“I haven’t seen anything,” Covington said. “I see the same fighter.
He comes out with a heavy jab, has a big right hand. That’s kind of
been the story of his career before, and that’s what he always went
to in the past. So yeah, he’s knocking out lightweights, he’s
knocking out guys that shouldn’t be in there with him. These are
easy paychecks.”