As he sat and watched the way the UFC 261 main event played out in the on-deck circle, Colby Covington wasn’t impressed with what he saw.
The next man in line for the UFC welterweight title shot, Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) had a front-row seat to see Kamaru Usman knock out Jorge Masvidal in Round 2 to retain his championship.
“It took eight minutes longer than I would finish Jorge Masvidal in every time we trained,” Covington said on the ESPN post-fight show. “That guy is a journeyman. What’s he got: 15, 20 losses on his record? You shouldn’t be happy or praising yourself for beating a journeyman like that. There’s a reason he’s a backstabber. He’s a street Judas. He’s a bum. If I lost the next 12 fights in a row, I’d still have a better record than journeyman Masvidal.”
While his level of impressed was low, so was his level of surprise. Covington thought the outcome was predictable. With Masvidal concerned about a takedown, Covington thinks it’s no wonder Usman found a knockout blow.
“I definitely knew it was a possibility because he puts the threat of a takedown,” Covington said. “That’s what Masvidal was worried about. He was worried about the takedown. He didn’t want to get taken down and gassed out. So he’s worried about getting taken down and, boom, he hits him with the right. He has his hands down, trying to defend the takedown. I knew it was a possibility.”
Whenever Covington gets to step into the cage with Usman, it won’t be the first time. The two welterweights squared off at UFC 245 in December 2019 when Usman finished Covington with strikes in Round 5. The bout was widely regarded as one of the year’s best.
If they fight again, Covington expects viewers to see things play out differently. Improvements have been made, according to Covington, who dragged Usman into deep waters in their first meeting.
“It’s a different style matchup when I fight ‘Marty,’” Covington said. “He knows he can’t take me down. I’m going to take him down into deep waters. I’m going to take him down and I’m going to finish him. There are no more fake nut shots next time. … I have new coaches now. I have a new team behind me. Before, there was so much drama at my old gym. People were screaming at me. I couldn’t get my training time in. Now, I have Daniel Valverde (and) Cesar Carneiro over at MMA Masters.
“We’re getting better every single day. My striking is on a whole other level. What has to go different is I have to put a higher pace on him next time. I didn’t put enough pace on him last time and just keep my hands up. I know I’m going to get my hand raised when I fight him.”
Colby Covington reacts to Kamaru Usman’s UFC 261 win: ‘You shouldn’t be happy or praising yourself’