Kamaru Usman has a message for Colby Covington in front of their epic UFC 245 showdown: there is no escaping what you have created.
Kamaru Usman has always been open about his feelings for Colby Covington and his desire to wreck him inside the Octagon. In the UFC 245 main event in Las Vegas, Nevada, he will have that opportunity. And he does not want the pleasure of finally unleashing his vengeance on Covington to be tempered by confessions of his opponent, regarding Covington’s heart-to-heart with Candance Owens recently that some have interpreted as an admission of playing a role. And as far as Usman is concerned, these explanations are nothing more than copouts.
“He’s not gonna get away with this,” Usman said on the TSN MMA Show recently. “He’s trying to find a way out right now. These are all excuses. He’s putting out the excuse now. He’s trying to find a way out, that, hey, when this doesn’t go my way, I was just putting on an act. Guys, don’t hate me because I was just putting on an act.”
Usman would then transition to delivering some advice to his soon-to-be opponent: stay the course, come what may:
“No. No. You chose to do that. You’re a grown man. You have your own mind, your own sense. You chose to do that,” Usman continued. “Don’t come out here and say, oh, you’re putting on a character now for the people, just because you don’t want everybody to hate you after I sleep you this weekend. No, don’t put that character on. Be the guy. You became this character, you went fully into it, you have no respect anybody, any culture, anything, any gender, so be that guy.
“You don’t see The Rock coming out and saying, hey guys, I’m just pretending to be The Rock. No. He’s the character. He’s The Rock. You see him as The Rock. He fully embodies that. So, Colby, be that. It’s a copout. He’s basically trying to let you know he understands what’s gonna happen now and please don’t hate him after he gets knocked out this weekend.”
UFC 245 takes place this Saturday, December 14, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, streaming exclusively on ESPN+
What do you think will become of Colby Covington’s “persona” if he loses to Kamaru Usman at UFC 245?
