Colby Covington still believes he won his rematch against Kamaru Usman.
Covington was edged by Usman in their UFC 268 welterweight title fight earlier this month in a contest that saw the latter score two knockdowns in the second round.
Despite what appeared to be the beginning of the end, Covington did well to bounce back as he ended the fight strong and had his moments. However, it wasn’t enough as all three judges scored the contest in Usman’s favor.
Speaking after the fight, “Chaos” thought he won the fight and that remains the case just over two weeks out from UFC 268. Having had issues with how their first fight played out as well, Covington believes there is no other option than to have a trilogy.
“I clearly won that fight three to two,” Covington told Submission Radio. “The third, fourth and fifth round were my rounds. And even if you were looking on a different side of the scope, I think you could see me winning the first round too. It was very close and competitive. After ten rounds, the people see what happened. We fought two times. At the ten rounds, at the worst, I’m winning six rounds to four. So, I think there needs to be another fight, there’s needs to be a trilogy if he stays around, if he wants to stick around. After fighting me two times I think he realizes how serious I am and how bad I want that belt. So, I don’t know if he’s willing in that octagon like I am, and I’m gonna get my shot back at him – if he doesn’t retire first. He might retire and just go ride off into the sunset. But if not, I’m looking for that Marty trilogy.
“I only watched it once, I watched it right away. I went to the back and I was like, I gotta see what happened. I felt like I had the third, fourth and fifth. Those were my rounds. The second, I mean, the only reason why I rushed in there and he barely clipped me and I hit the ground, it was like a flash knockdown, was because if you go look in the second round, I wobble him with a jab. I hit him with a good jab, he stumbles a little bit. But when he stumbles, he catches his feet real good and throws a two and a hook. And the hook just kind of flashed me. And I was like, oh sh*t, but it wasn’t any serious damage. And that was a close round in the second too, and that was it. He got a quick little flash knockdown.
“The first round I thought I definitely won that round. I took him down definitely two times. Any wrestler, even DC – DC’s on there. I mean, the guy’s an Olympic wrestler, NCAA champion, one of the best wrestlers of all time and a wrestling coach, and if he’s saying that that’s two, that’s a takedown, I mean, it’s pretty obvious that I broke that record. He’s not unblemished on his being taken down record in the UFC anymore. I’ve obviously taken him down, I took him down twice, I won the fight. I dropped him and I wobbled him, hurt him to the body. That was my fight, man. The people saw that. That’s who they were rooting for at Madison Square Garden.”
Colby Covington Still Eyeing Welterweight Strap
In reality, even Covington knows that he will not be facing Usman next. He’s already had two attempts while Usman will likely face Leon Edwards or Khamzat Chimaev in the near future.
However, Covington will do all he can to work his way up to another title shot. Even if Usman is not the champion at the time, which he acknowledges would be bittersweet.
“Yeah, it would be tough. It would be bittersweet,” Covington said when asked what he thought of a title shot against someone other than Usman. “It wouldn’t be the same. After fighting him in two fights, and yeah, the judge has picked him twice, you know, it is what it is. That’s their decision. But I won over the people and I’ve won over the arenas and the millions of people watching on pay-per-view around the world. So, I know I did my job in there. And just because I don’t have the paper title and the judges’ nod, the people saw with their own eyes what happened. They saw the way those rounds were scored and the fight I’ve put up against him and who’s the better fighter overall. If that was a fight to the death, the people know who’s going to win that fight. There’s no question it’s going to be me.
“So, I didn’t have to cheat, I didn’t have to take timeouts, take breaks, and I was ready to go five more every time. So, it would be bittersweet. But I’m doing whatever it takes to get that belt. I want to hold that belt again, and it’s more important to me than breathing anymore. So, I’m going to do whatever it takes. I’m going to keep working hard.”
You can watch the full interview below:
