When it comes to the rivalry between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The biggest thing that remained the same between these top welterweights is Usman getting his hand raised against Covington. Also like their initial bout in 2019, their UFC 268 bout was very closely contested and Covington remains the only man to push Usman in what was another very tough fight.
There was one noticeable difference between the two rivals, however, which could be found in the immediate aftermath of the fight. To the naked eye, it appeared that Covington was actually gracious in defeat and whispered words of respect into Usman’s ear, a sight that perhaps no one in attendance expected to see.
Speaking to reports at the UFC 268 post-fight press conference, Covington cleared the air, leaving the public to wonder if what they saw was merely an illusion. Then again, perhaps “Chaos” decided to snap right back into “character” by the time he hit the press conference.
“He’s a cheating coward. I have no respect for that guy,” Covington said when asked about the post-fight exchange between him and Usman. “He’s obviously a cheater. He’s cheated in multiple fights. I mean, he was holding my glove tonight against the cage. In the first round, I shot a takedown and he went bom-bom twice to the back of the head.
“I think Dan Miragliotta is top-3 best refs in the game. But I told him before the fight, ‘Hey, do not let this guy hit me in the back of the head.’ And he did right away. If you go back and look at the footage, he clearly hit the back of the head. And when you hit someone in the back of the head, man, it definitely dazes you real quick. So that caught me off guard and just more tactics of him cheating. You’ll never see me cheating or trying to cheat. So I got an unfair shake again, but I still think I got the job done. But I promise you he ain’t seen the last of me.”
Covington Believes He Won The Fight, Says Business Still Unfinished
In addition to doubling down once again on his assessment of Usman being a cheater, he also believes he was the rightful winner of this fight. You can tally this one in the “things that remain the same” category.
“It was laser thin again. I honestly thought I had it 3-2, and it was very close,” Covington said. “He clipped me, I clipped him a couple times. Whatever media reporter in here saying I went for 11 takedowns and had unsuccessful attempts, fake news. You guys, do real journalism. That’s why you guys aren’t journalists. You don’t have journalism degrees because you put this fake news out. I obviously took him down. So I broke that stat. So you can’t ever hype him up anymore and say he’s never been taken down because I took him down.”
Finally, despite the scorecard reading “2-0 Usman,” just like he did leading into the rematch, Covington maintains there is unfinished business between him and the champion.
“So I think we have unfinished business,” Covington said. “I’ll go five more rounds in the parking lot right now, and I’m serious about that. I will see him again. I’m not done with him. I’ll fight whoever it takes to get back there.”
What do you make of Colby Covington’s post-fight remarks?
