Colby Covington was not impressed by UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s most recent win.
Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) notched his third successful title defense by stopping Gilbert Burns in the third round at UFC 258 in a near-flawless performance.
After getting dropped by a Burns overhand right in one of the fight’s opening exchanges, Usman showed championship composure by weathering the early storm and turning the tables on Burns. He used a piston-like jab to keep “Durinho” at bay, which ended up also being the fight-ending punch.
But despite Usman’s ability to make adjustments, Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) thinks Burns exposed a chink in the champion’s armor.
“I think that looks like a guy really primed to get knocked out his next fight, and I want to be the one to deliver it,” Covington told Submission Radio. “He looks a little chinny. Dilbert, he’s an oversized midget, man, he’s a 155-er getting knocked out by 155-ers. The guy’s nothing, and that guy came out and dropped you and almost finished you in the first round? You got lucky to get out of that that he fell on his back and just sat there for five minutes and let you recover.
“Besides that, I didn’t see anything special. I see a guy that’s gotten worse. He changed camps and he looks like a different fighter in the worst way. He looks like he’s declined in his progression. So, he looks like a guy I’m ready to expose to the world, and I want to show them Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington 2.0.”
It’s no secret Covington has angled for a rematch with Usman ever since their “Fight of the Year” contender in December 2019. Covington was stopped in the fifth round in a competitive back-and-forth affair, where one judge had him up 3-1 going into the fifth round.
But after beating Burns, Usman diverted his attention to a different rematch. He wants to run things back with Jorge Masvidal, whom he beat in a unanimous decision win at UFC 251 in July.
“It’s hilarious,” Covington said on Usman wanting Masvidal. “Marty Fakenewsman is a complete coward. If I had a win over him the way he has a win over me, I would want to run that back right away. You know you didn’t beat me, and the fans know that night in that arena, and everybody around the world knew that that was a (expletive) stoppage, a (expletive) fight, and there’s still a lot of stones that are unturned.
“So, there’s a lot of unfinished business. He just knows what presents him the hardest challenge, and that’s me. He’s looking for an easy payday, he’s looking for the Street Judas (Jorge) Masvidal cause he knows he’s washed up. That fight goes the same way every single time, guys.”
Colby Covington saw nothing special in ‘chinny’ Kamaru Usman’s UFC 258 win over Gilbert Burns
