LAS VEGAS – Kamaru Usman won’t entertain Colby Covington’s fake foul accusations.
Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) finished Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in a thrilling battle to retain his UFC welterweight title at this past December’s UFC 245, in a last-minute stoppage that Covington immediately contested.
Covington was also unhappy with referee Marc Goddard, accusing him of giving Usman unnecessary breaks in the heated action that saved him from losing the fight.
But Usman says he doesn’t understand why Covington is claiming that he was faking those fouls when there’s video evidence to prove otherwise. He does admit, though, that the low blow may not have connected as hard as he initially thought in the moment.
“I’ve seen a little bit here and there, but I try and disconnect,” Usman told MMA Junkie this past Saturday at a media day for Dominance MMA. “This kid’s tiring. Like I was asked earlier, going to these shows and things like that, it gets tiring after a while, and I just kind of want to back out and indulge in my family and being at home, so I had to unplug for a little while, but making those claims is stupid.
“There’s clear-cut video. Your fingers went in my eye, easy as that, and at the same time, like the cup shot, I can’t touch on that enough. We are trained in our minds, if something hits you here (points down) as a man, you anticipate, and you wait for that pain to come, and you saw the break was literally maybe 10 seconds if that, in that period. It’s like, ‘Boom,’ I got grazed in the cup to where it’s like I’m anticipating that pain to come, and it’s not that bad. ‘OK ref, let’s go. Let’s keep going,’ to where now he’s saying, ‘You faked it. I was ready to finish you.’ You weren’t ready to finish anybody. At the end of the day, if you were ready to finish me, why didn’t you finish me at the end of the fight?”
It appears that Usman’s next title defense will likely come against Jorge Masvidal, despite Covington campaigning for a rematch, which Usman says he’d be open to at some point down the line.
“At the end of the day, if he wants a rematch, that’s not up to me,” Usman said. “That’s up to the company. I’d be happy to break his face, break his jaw again.”
