Colby Covington is looking to double-up with gold by knocking off not one, but both of the Nigerian-born UFC world champions.
History was made when Kamaru Usman became the first African champion in the UFC. That history was then followed up with added stories of Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou following suit, making it three champions from the continent.
That is a truly astonishing fact given the sudden proximity in which the three reigns happened, not to mention the relative scarcity of African fighters in the UFC. However, the reign of two of the “three kings” is about to come to an end if Colby “Chaos” Covington has anything to say about it, with the American specifically looking to usurp both of the Nigerian monarchs (h/t Sportskeeda).
“I’m gonna fight in my weight class against Kamaru Usman. I’m gonna get the world title, 170, welterweight, and then I’m going to be working with you and Bang Energy to put on the muscle mass and we’re going to go up to middleweight, to 185 and we’re going to beat Israel Adesanya,” Colby Covington said in a YouTube video of a training session with Bang Energy CEO Jack Owoc.
Before moving up to middleweight, Covington will have to get past Kamaru Usman, something no one in the UFC, including him, has been able to do. If he is to achieve his goal of becoming a double champion, he would also need to be the first man to defeat Adesanya in the middleweight division.
Each of the above is a tall task and together is truly a monumental undertaking. Covington has never been known to be short on confidence, though, so if he is truly committed to capturing the 170- and 185-pound titles, then Usman and Adesanya may both be in for the fight of their lives as well.
Do you think Colby Covington can pull this off? Can he dethrone both Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya?
