LAS VEGAS – It’s well-documented welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and his UFC 245 challenger, Colby Covington, don’t like each other.
In a certain sense, however, Usman (15-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC) is excited fate found him a foil. Every major combat sports star has had them. Whether it be Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov or Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, rivalries have helped successful fighters elevate their statuses and bring their stardom to the next level.
In Covington (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), Usman believes he has found the promotional yin to his yang. He hasn’t had a rivalry quite like this in his career to date.
“It’s very rare that you get a fight like this,” Usman said at Thursday’s UFC 245 media day. “It’s very rare that you’re put in a position like this.
“There are a lot of fighters that fight all through their career and they never get put into ‘that’ fight. They never find that right dance partner to propel them, (like) Conor-Khabib. Look at Khabib now. They never get that to propel them to that point. This is that fight for me. It’s very exciting. I welcome it and I can’t wait.”
Against Covington, Usman believes he’ll unleash power like never before. Unlike past fights, there won’t be any inkling of a ‘hold back’ when Usman throws at Covington.
“This is the case where I’m going to enjoy going 100 percent,” Covington said. “It’s going to be bad intentions. When I decide it’s going to be bad intentions, this is kill shot. I don’t care if I cut him, I slice him up, I do whatever. This is going to be one of those where I don’t feel that little ‘hold back’ when I fight him.”
UFC 245 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Check out Kamaru Usman’s UFC 245 pre-fight scrum in the video above, and his media day faceoff with Covington below.
Kamaru Usman excited to find 'right dance partner' in Colby Covington at UFC 245
