Colby Covington lost to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a rematch in the UFC 268 main event on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, but believed that he won the fight.
Covington felt that he captured three of the five rounds in the 170-pound title bout, but wasn’t ‘proud’ of his performance.
“I’m definitely not proud of my performance. I should have won that. It was laser-thin again. I honestly thought I had it 3-2,” Covington said during the event’s post-fight press conference. “It was very close. He clipped me. I clipped him a couple of times.”
Covington didn’t display the high-volume output in the opening round like he typically has in his past fights. He acknowledged that when looking back on the bout, but still felt that he did enough to become the champion.
“I came out a little sluggish. Just didn’t get to my volume, didn’t get to my pace like I normally do. I was trying to see what he was working with and what he was going to come at me with, but I still thought I was right there,” he said.
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“I didn’t think that he clearly won (rounds) 1 or 2. I mean, maybe 2 because he clipped me, but 1 was very close. I don’t know how you could outright give it to him. It was a very close fight. Whatever judge that scored it 49-46 is out of their f*cking mind.”
Despite his second loss to Usman, Covington believes that the two will meet again inside the octagon. In Covington’s mind, it’s just a matter of time.
“I think we have unfinished business. I’ll go five more rounds out in the parking lot right now. I’m serious about that. I will see him again. I’m not done with him. I’ll fight whoever it takes to get back there,” he said.
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Colby Covington thought he defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 268: ‘I honestly thought I had it 3-2’
