Colby Covington: No excuse for Kamaru Usman rematch to be delayed

Colby Covington is expecting to get his long-awaited rematch with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in late summer.

After Usman retained his belt with a second-round knockout of Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Fla., UFC president Dana White reiterated that Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) is next in line for a title shot.

Prior to UFC 261, Usman told MMA Junkie that he hopes to fight two more times this year and Covington thinks that, with Usman coming out of Saturday relatively unscathed, the UFC should book their rematch sooner than later.

“There’s no reason that this fight shouldn’t be on the plate given right away,” Covington told Submission Radio. “It’s not like Marty took any damage in the fight. He’s just fought this journeyman. He didn’t take no punches. He took him down, softened him up, got him gassed out, and knocked him out when he was completely dead tired. So, he didn’t take any damage. There’s no reason that this fight should be dragged out or later in the year than it needs to be.”

He continued, “Let’s get this going on the first pay-per-view in August, and let’s do it in Vegas. Or let’s do it back in Florida. It makes sense to come back to Florida. We can do it in Miami, American Airlines Arena. Maybe Orlando? Maybe Tampa? Maybe Jacksonville again? There’s a lot of spots for it. But Ron DeSantis, our governor of Florida, doing a great job. And I want to come back and give him a show for all the things he’s doing for the UFC and Dana White.”

Covington, who was in attendance at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, has given Usman his toughest test to date, but Usman doesn’t seem too keen on rematching Covington, saying contenders need to do something to cement their spot.

“What’s Marty Fakenewsman’s excuse to not fight me now? I mean, there’s no one else,” Covington said. “It’s me. I’m the only one that pushed you before and took rounds off you – multiple rounds. I should have won the fight. If you didn’t fake nut shots and fake eye pokes and have that fake stoppage when I protested it right away, so what’s his excuse now, guys? Is it going to be, ‘Oh, I got an injury, I got this,’ says he want to hang out with his daughter? What’s he gonna say now?”

He continued, “Of course , Marty’s gonna look to go to his little rat manager Ali (Abdelaziz), and they’re gonna find every excuse in the book to fight someone else. They wanted to fight a little lightweight wash-up, they want to fight another lightweight. They don’t want to fight a real welterweight like me, a guy who pushed him. And they know I’m capable of beating them. So, what’s their excuse gonna be? Dana wants it, the UFC want it, the fans want it. Me and Marty Fakenewsman Round 2. We got unfinished business.”