Nigeria’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman has been hit with another stiff challenge even before entering The Octagon for his latest title defence on Saturday night.
Megasportsarena.com reports that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has a date to keep in a rematch with Jorge Masvidal this Saturday night, but he will enter the bout with one mind on a threat from another rival, Colby Covington.
Even before the outcome of Usman’s potentially explosive clash with Masvidal, Covington confessed that he hopes to take on the winner of the UFC 261 main event after the dust settles on Saturday’s rematch in God’s Own Country.
Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) has a well-documented history with both men set to fight for the welterweight title in Saturday’s headliner. He fought Usman (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) to a thrilling fifth-round TKO loss at UFC 245 in December 2019.
No matter who wins, Covington will have a big fight in front of him and the hugely ambitious fighter, who was a friend and training partner of Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC) before their relationship took a turn for the worse and they became heated enemies, stressed that he is up to the task.
UFC president, Dana White has already labeled him the likely No. 1 contender to the belt but, if Covington has his way, he would gladly enter The Octagon immediately after Saturday’s rematch at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and get his pound of flesh on the winner.
However, only one can be first, and his expectation – and preference – is for that to be Usman. He’s still bitter about the way their fight ended at UFC 245, and has repeatedly gone into detail about how he thought Usman bent the rules to victory.
Usman has hinted in the lead-up to UFC 261 that retirement for him may not be far off, and Covington said he wouldn’t be surprised if “The Nigerian Nightmare” skips UFC after this fight, but he is keeping his fingers crossed that he will also have his own night in the spotlight.
Covington said: “Of course I would rather it be ‘Marty Fakenewsman.’ We have unfinished business. That first fight, there’s a bad taste in my mouth, there’s a bad taste in the fans’ mouth. … That fight needs to be run back.
“That’s the best fight that people want to see and it’s the fight that the fans deserve. But honestly, he’s already talking about retiring, so I don’t see that fight happening.
“He’s probably going to retire and not fight me. Masvidal doesn’t want to fight me. He’s already turned down that fight for a year. He knows who his daddy is.
“Jorge Masvidal’s my son, and he knows what. I hope that Dana puts that together. I would love to go look the winner in the eyes and let them know I’m next.
“Then the fans can see how cowardice they are when they go hiding and they go looking for a way out or ‘retirement’ or ‘I’m walking away from the sport.’
“I’m hoping I get to look them in the eyes tomorrow night, but I don’t know if there will be enough men in the building to hold me back from what I’m going to do to the winner.”
