Colby Covington refuses to accept anything less than a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his next fight, and he believes Usman’s disinterest in the rematch is quite telling.
At UFC 245, one of the greatest fights in UFC history took place when Kamaru Usman retained the welterweight title against Colby Covington in the main event. After a temporary hiatus from the public gaze immediately following the bout, Covington would eventually re-emerge as a man crying foul on referee Marc Goddard’s performance and letting it be known that he would not stop until he received a rematch.
Since this 2019 loss, Covington has only fought once, which is one of the reasons Usman believes he is undeserving of a title shot. The champion believes that Covington’s win over a declining Tyron Woodley should not alone be enough to warrant a rematch against him.
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Covington brushed aside Usman’s remarks. Instead, he reminded the champion of what he believes to be the only relevant fact in this dispute, which is that Covington has a #1 next to his name, something Jorge Masvidal could not say when Usman granted him a rematch at UFC 261.
“I’m the No. 1 contender,” Covington told MMA Junkie. “There’s a No. 1 next to my name (in the UFC rankings). I’m going to fight for a world title my next fight, whether it’s going to be Marty, where it’s going to be – we don’t know where, we don’t know who yet, but we will fight for the world title next. Marty’s out there, the CEO of EPO, he doesn’t want to fight. He wants to fight lightweights. He probably wants a trilogy with Masvidal. Last time it was six days, now it’s six weeks, now he probably wants to give Masvidal six months. So he’s only looking to fight lightweights. He wants Michael Chiesa, a guy who is No. 7 in the rankings that was just getting beat by (Anthony) Pettis like a year ago; now he’s not even in the UFC no more. So, it’s a complete joke.
“He needs to come see me. This is a fight the fans want to see and if he doesn’t want to fight me and he’s going to run off into the sunset because he’s scared I’m going to take his health, then that’s OK. But I’m still fighting for the world title my next fight, so we’re going to prepare as if we’re fighting for the world title next.”
Covington Claims Usman Is Asking For Unreasonable Money For Rematch
There has been no word yet on when Kamaru Usman’s next fight will be, but he has remained adamant that welterweight contenders need to “show him something” and motivate him to defend the title against them. Usman also argues that if he were to defend his title soon, it should be against someone on an actual winning streak and who is active, both descriptors that fall short of fitting the current situation of Covington.
Usman has even entertained the thought of boxing Jake Paul instead of competing in MMA for his next fight. Naturally, many would chalk this up to the welterweight champion looking to cash in on a huge payday by fighting the YouTuber. In fact, Covington believes that Usman is basically looking for Jake Paul money in order to agree to grant him a rematch.
“It’s frustrating,” Covington said. “He’s trying to avoid me at all costs. He knows I’m the toughest fight for him, and he knows he got lucky last time. … They’re definitely going to have to force his hand. He’s asking for a crazy amount of money to fight me again, so right now he’s just tainting his legacy.
“The fans are seeing the true side of him. He doesn’t want to fight the true next challenger, the No. 1 guy with the No. 1 next to his name, the guy that gave you the toughest fight of his career, that beat you in multiple rounds. I had minimum two or three rounds up before the early stoppage. I was in the fight. I wasn’t out unconscious. I stood right up, and he landed shots to the back of my head. I can’t believe no one talks about that either.”
Something is going to have to give, as Usman has made it clear on multiple occasions that he is not interested in fighting Colby Covington next. Be that as it may, Covington has shown just how stubborn he can be regarding these matters in the past, so we could be looking at a stalemate here.
To Covington’s point, if there’s one thing that can unglue fixed positions, it’s the flow of the green stuff. With UFC President Dana White also on the record in stating that Covington will be facing Usman next, the boss may be willing to do or spend whatever it takes to ensure Covington’s request is granted and the rematch happens next.
Do you think a title shot is the only acceptable next fight for Colby Covington?
