Kamaru Usman recently retained his UFC title in arguably the most grueling fight of his career.
UFC welterweight champion Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) took on arch-rival Colby Covington at this past December’s UFC 245 in what turned out to be one of the best fights of 2019.
It was an absolute barnburner, where Usman was able to outlast Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC), finishing him with under a minute remaining in the fight.
Speaking on the “JRE MMA Show,” Usman acknowledged Covington’s toughness and said he expects the two to meet again down the line.
“He really showed how good he is, and I give respect when respect is due,” Usman said. “I’m no hater. I know he could fight. I know he was good. I knew he was tough and I knew he was a competitor, as well. He’s always been a competitor.”
“He’s a tough guy, and at the end of the day, to make fantastic fights, you got to have the right dance partner, and he was the right dance partner. To be honest with you, if I didn’t take too much out of him – because each fight takes something from you internally – so if I didn’t take too much from him, I think I might see him again, to be honest, because it’s clear that we are the best two guys in the division, and so yeah, I look forward to seeing him again.”
Both guys had a similar path to the top, facing similar opposition. Both guys have also dominated the majority of their fights, winning one-sided decisions. On paper, it was a contest between two fighters that possessed a similar style.
In the cage, the pair’s grappling was largely neutralized, and they stood in the middle of the octagon, instead, and traded for almost 25 minutes. One judge had Covington up, one had Usman up, and the third had it at two rounds a piece heading into the fifth, making Usman’s late finish pivotal.
“I knew it was close because for the first time ever, I asked my coaches, ‘Did I win that round?’” Usman said. “I’ve never in my career done that. I’m the type of guy even when I was wrestling, I’m the type of wrestler who – I like to run up the scoreboard. I don’t like to leave any doubt that I won that round. I’m going to dominate that round. I’m going to make sure I won, so in my head, I know I won, I don’t need to ask. For the first time in my career I went back, I’m like, ‘Did I win that round?’”
“Even by me asking that, I never thought, ‘Oh, I’m not going to finish this fight.’ I always knew I was going to finish the fight.”
