Colby Covington didn’t hesitate to name the UFC rival he hates the most.
‘Chaos’ is currently gearing up to face fellow welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley in the main event of UFC Tampa, which takes place at Florida’s Amalie Arena on Saturday night.
The former interim UFC champion is known for his wild trash-talk, and it’s gotten him into a series of feuds with his opponents through the years.
Jorge Masvidal sucker punched him in the street and Leon Edwards tried to attack him on stage ahead of their fight at UFC 296 last December – but Colby Covington insists his beef with them pails in comparison to somebody else.
Colby Covington explains hatred for Kamaru Usman
Colby Covington is 0-2 in fights with former 170lb champion Kamaru Usman.
Of course, that’s enough to instill a deep dislike in any competitive sportsman. However, Covington insists that his hatred for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is about much more than that.
The controversial American claims Usman cheated during their fights.
“Definitely ‘Marty Juiceman’,” Covington said on his Twitch channel after being asked by a fan who is the opponent he hates the most.
“Just because he’s a cheater and he’s a coward. He definitely cheated multiple times in our fights, so I just can’t respect someone that cheats in a fight.
“I’ve never cheated. I’ve done everything the right way. I didn’t cut corners, didn’t ask for shortcuts, had to go the long way.”
Covington accused Usman of faking an eye poke after their first fight, which ended in a fifth-round TKO victory that saw the champion defend his belt at UFC 245 in December 2019.
Two years later, they rematched, and Usman was victorious again. This time Covington claimed his foe pretended he had been hit with a low blow when he had been hurt by a body shot at UFC 268.
Islam Makhachev takes aim at Colby Covington
Colby Covington often beefs with people he’s not booked to fight.
Islam Makhachev is the latest of them after the UFC lightweight champion refused to accept Covington publicly branding him a ‘weight bully’.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé responded to the comment in an uncharacteristically fiery manner as he ripped Covington’s trash-talk tactics and overall fighting skills.
“First, let’s describe who Colby is,” Makhachev said. “A man who can’t prove anything with his fights but tries to be well known with his mouth. This is what he does. He doesn’t talk about fighters who are not in the top 15.
“He talks about fighters who have already achieved a lot to be well-known. I think he’s one of the masters of trash talk, but it’s not true that he doesn’t cut weight. Everyone cuts weight.
“For example, Kamaru Usman weighs more than 90kg, he is huge. I do not weigh 86kg. My maximum weight when I train is 82-83kg.
“Why should it bother me? It would be understandable if it was someone (who is a good fighter) but when a person can’t fight normally, but still talks about me, it doesn’t bother me.”