Colby Covington believes he’s the only one capable of challenging Kamaru Usman.
Covington is set to face bitter rival Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight encounter in the UFC 272 headliner taking place March 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s a chance for “Chaos” to not only return to the win column following his unanimous decision defeat to Usman in their welterweight title fight at UFC 268 in November, but also finally lay his hands on Masvidal who he has been eager to face for many years now.
And despite losing to Usman twice already, Covington believes a win over Masvidal would put him right back into the mix to face the champion a third time — especially given how their first two fights went.
“It puts me right back in line to get another fight with Usman,” Covington recently said at the UFC 270 weigh-in show (via MMA Junkie). “The people saw in Madison Square Garden and New York City what happened in that fight. I easily won three rounds. I think I won four rounds. The only round he clearly won was the second. I won the first, the third, the fourth and the fifth, so the people saw that. They want that fight again.
“There’s no one that’s on his level that can compete with him like I can, so this fight needs to happen again. There needs to be a trilogy because he hasn’t proved that he’s the better fighter. He hasn’t proved that he’s the best welterweight in the world, and there’s still unfinished business there. So I think after I finish Jorge Masvidal on March 5, it puts me right back in line to get my title shot.”
Colby Covington Has Alternative In Mind
Of course, UFC president Dana White recently revealed that Leon Edwards would 100% be next for Usman which would scupper Covington’s plans.
But even if that’s the case, the former interim welterweight champion has an alternative in mind — his former American Top Team teammate Dustin Poirier.
“I think Louisiana swamp trash ‘Dustin Sorier,’” Covington added. “That’s a fight that needs to happen after this. That’s another personal grudge match. We’ve got a long history training together. He used to talk sh*t saying it was on sight. He was going to the owner of American Top Team, and he was crying to him up in his feelings to this billionaire, ‘Oh, Colby’s so mean. He said some mean things about me in the media. Kick him out. Do something. Don’t let him train at our gym.’ So that fight needs to happen.
“He said to the media it’s on sight. I’m holding people accountable for all these fake news that they’re saying in the media.”
For now, we have Covington vs. Masvidal to get excited for.
