Another bitter rivalry is brewing between Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman ahead of their rematch for the UFC welterweight championship set to take place on Nov. 6.
Earlier this week, Covington made headlines after doing a sit down interview with ESPN where he insinuated that welterweight champ, Usman, was forced into their rematch. Stating that the UFC threatened to strip him if he didn’t take the fight.
Yesterday, during an interview with Daniel Cormier on his new show The DC Check-In, Usman responded to Covington’s claims, stating that he is just trying to “stay relevant.”
“He’s chasing that feeling that we get now because we have become champ, and we have defended,” said Usman. “We are known worldwide as the man, and that’s the feeling that he is still chasing, and that he will never feel as long as I am in the way. So, it is what it is.”
“For me, I just have a calm reserve because, you know, a jackass will say anything,” said Usman. “And that’s where he’s at right now. He’ll say anything just to try to stay in that spot and stay relevant. To where I don’t have to do that. When it’s time to go to work, I show up and I go to work, and I’ve showed it time and time again.”
Since the two first met in 2019, they have gone on slightly different paths.
Covington has fought one time where he defeated former welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley, by rib injury in the fifth-round.
Usman, however, has defended the title three times and is coming off a knockout-of-the-year candidate against Jorge Masvidal. Usman has since also become the pound-for-pound top fighter in the world according to the UFC rankings.
Usman and Covington will face-off for the second time in what was an instant classic the first time around, in New York at Madison Square Garden for UFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2.
Source: Youtube
