It appears Kamaru Usman is open to a Colby Covington trilogy in the future.
UFC welterweight champion Usman had a front-row seat to the grudge match between Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) and Jorge Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC), which headlined this past Saturday’s UFC 272 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Usman (20-1 MMA, 15-0 UFC) is sitting comfortably at the top having defended his title against both Covington and Masvidal twice. But after Covington scored a lopsided unanimous decision over Masvidal, perhaps he can see himself throwing down with Covington one more time.
“UFC 272 came to a close as expected,” Usman told ESPN. “I knew that Covington’s wrestling was going to be the big difference. Masvidal had moments in there, but Covington did his thing. So maybe down the line, I smash.”
Covington’s performance even got former UFC lightweight champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee Khabib Nurmagomedov’s approval.
In his first outing with Covington at UFC 245, Usman was able to finish the fight in Round 5 after a back-and-forth battle. Their rematch at UFC 268 played out slightly differently. Usman dropped Covington early before Covington rallied. But ultimately, the champion proved to be too much once again.
Following his win over Masvidal, Covington proceeded to call out another former American Top Team teammate in Dustin Poirier, cutting an immediate promo in the cage. Usman is projected to defend his title against Leon Edwards sometime this summer after he heals from hand surgery.
