With Gilbert Burns’ enforced withdrawal from UFC 251 due to a positive COVID-19 test, Colby Covington has emphatically thrown his red MAGA hat into the ring and offered to step in on one week’s notice and face Kamaru Usman in a welterweight title rematch.
UFC 251 takes place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on July 11 (July 12 locally), and with Usman losing his scheduled title challenger just one week out, former interim champion Covington has offered to step in and face “The Nigerian Nightmare” once again.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Covington (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) revealed how he heard the news of Burns’ withdrawal, and declared his willingness to step in and face Usman on “Fight Island” next Saturday
“Last night I opened up my Twitter and I’m looking at our great President’s tweets and being at Mount Rushmore and all the festivities of America’s birthday and celebrating the fourth of July. And all of a sudden, my timeline starts filling up. ‘Colby, save the day!’ and I see that dirty Dilbert has the ‘Rona. And then it only made sense to put my name in the hat.”
Covington faced Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) for the welterweight title last December at UFC 245. In a well-matched battle, the pair went toe-to-toe for five rounds before Usman eventually claimed a final-round TKO stoppage to defeat Covington, who sustained a broken jaw during the bout. Covington maintains he wasn’t at his best during that fight and promised that he would avenge his defeat in decisive fashion if given the chance to step in at UFC 251.
“I see me beating Marty Fakenewsman like a drum. It won’t even be competitive,” he said. “The last fight, I made so many mistakes. I wasn’t at my best with the food poisoning going in. Obviously the ref, with the incompetent calls. I would have finished him in the second round with that liver kick if he didn’t call a fake nut shot. I would have finished him when he’s calling fake eye pokes, you know, the hits to the back of the head, the bad calls.
“It’s not going to be competitive. I’ve made a lot of adjustments in my game. I’ve been working very hard on some little mistakes that I made in the last fight, just keeping my hands up and doing a better job of that. And this time it’s going to be completely different. He’s not gonna get in my corner audio and then have a second sense of life and be like, ‘’Oh, man, I can actually win this fight because maybe Colby’s injured.’ So, it’s going to be domination from start to finish, and I’m gonna beat his ass from pillar to post.”
Covington is typically confident in the result if he faces Usman again, but he admitted he wasn’t sure what direction the UFC will take with Usman next. He’s thrown his name into the conversation, however, and hopes the UFC accepts his offer to step in.
“There’s been some small discussions – nothing concrete,” he said. “And I think they’re scrambling, they’re trying to figure out what they’re gonna do. But they can’t do, they can’t put ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal out there. The guy’s had the last six months to step up to the fight, and all of a sudden on a week’s notice he wants to accept to fight? I mean, we can’t neglect the truth. Jorge doesn’t want to fight. That Shia LaBeouf-looking (expletive), he just wants to go to some Spanish island and disappear with some soap opera stars and play dodgeball. He doesn’t want to fight, he’s a clout chaser. So, give the real man what the people want to see.”
If the fight gets booked, Covington said fans can expect to see a new version of “Chaos” inside the octagon. He’s learned from his first fight with Usman and said he has made the necessary tweaks to his game to ensure he comes out on the winning side in a rematch.
“I learned a ton about him and had so many takeaways,” he explained. “He’s scared to wrestle. He does not want to get into a wrestling exchange with me because he knows happens. He’s gonna gas out, he’s not going to be able to keep that stamina, and the muscles are gonna fill up in his blood and he’s not gonna be able to strike. So, I made some big adjustments in my game that I’ve been working every single day, and that’s why I’ve been saying that I want to come out and show these adjustments. I want to show Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington 2.0. This is ‘Colby Covington Incorporated’ now, and we are officially open for business.”