Colby Covington has claimed, yet again, that he beat Kamaru Usman. ‘Chaos’ fought the then-welterweight champion Kamaru Usman twice- the first at their UFC 245 loss in 2019 and a UFC 268 rematch two years later. Covington lost their first bout in the fifth round via a vicious knockout from ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’
Their second encounter, however, went the full five rounds and saw Usman win a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecard. However, Covington thinks that his first fight against Usman would have resulted in a KO victory for him if it wasn’t for a biased referee.
Colby Covington blames referee for first Usman loss
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In an interview on ‘The Rush’ podcast, Colby Covington made the strong claim, which is unlikely to go down well with the famously acerbic UFC fans, that he was one of the greatest mixed martial artists ever. The former interim champion reflected on his hard-fought bouts with Kamaru Usman, the then-welterweight champion lauded by UFC CEO Dana White as the division’s greatest. Usman was seemingly unbeatable at the time of their encounters.
“I’ve fought the best fighters this sport’s ever produced. I do think I’m one of the greatest. I do think I’m one of the greatest of all time. Went toe-to-toe you know, with the number one pound-for-pound guy, who Dana thinks is the best welterweight of all time in Usman,” Covington said.
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In the second round of their first fight five years ago, a body kick from Covington landed squarely on the champion’s torso. The champion then reached for his groin, a common reaction to a low blow. Covington believed this was a strategic move by the champion to stall for time and that the referee’s decision to pause the fight cost him a potential knockout victory and a shot at history.
“I think I beat him, you know. I kicked him in the liver in the second round and he was like ‘Oh, nutshot.’ And they clearly show on the replay, like it was a liver shot. Like he was going down, he was going to be TKOed. I was going to win the fight, and then they stopped it. It wasn’t a fair fight. I was fighting two on one that night,” he added.
Covington felt that he was in a ‘two on one’ contest at UFC 245, with the legendary champion and the referee. And without the latter’s intervention in the second round, the American was sure he would have knocked out Usman in that round. This winning streak continued in their rematch as well.
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‘Chaos’ thinks he won three out of five rounds in rematch
After laying the blame for his first loss against Usman on the biased refereeing, Colby Covington laid the blame for his unanimous decision loss to Usman at their UFC 268 rematch in 2021 squarely on the feet of the judges. The former NCAA D1 wrestler felt that he had clearly won the last three rounds, and should have walked out of the cage as the new welterweight champion in their thrilling rematch.
“And then the second fight we fought in Madison Square Garden, you know, I thought I beat him three rounds to two. He had one good round where he dropped me in the second, but I came back and rallied, won the third, fourth, and fifth round. Dropped him in the fourth almost knocked him out but he got saved by the bell… I thought I’d beat him in there,” Covington said.
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And there does seem to be some truth in his claims. All three judges gave the Nigerian first two rounds because of his dominant showing, which saw him knockdown ‘Chaos’ in the second round. The third round, however, went much better for Covington, with one judge scoring it in favor of the American and two giving it to Usman. The penultimate round, contrary to Covington’s claims, was unanimously scored for the champion, but the final round had the judges split again and saw two judges giving it to a resurgent ‘Chaos’.
What are your thoughts on Colby Covington claiming he won both his fights against Kamaru Usman?
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