Ben Askren Reveals Mistake Kamaru Usman Made In UFC 245 Post-Fight Press Conference
Kamaru Usman had a near-perfect weekend when he defeated Colby Covington at UFC 245 on Saturday. However, he made a mistake in the post-fight presser according to Ben Askren.
Usman defeated bitter rival Covington via fifth-round TKO in what was a very satisfying win for the welterweight champion. After all, his rivalry with Covington dates back years and with all the trash talk that came his way, he was able to have the last laugh.
Many wondered if the trash talk would affect Usman and make him too emotional during the fight which could have led to a mistake. At first, “The Nigerian Nightmare” said he was completely focused — only to contradict himself later on:
“The first question to [Usman] is, ‘over the past X amount of months since this fight’s been signed, did Colby’s trash talk get to you at all,’” Askren said in a recent video (via BJ Penn). “[Usman] essentially answers, ‘no it did not, I am the most mentally tough guy in this division.’ Something to that effect.
“Then, two questions later, they ask some question — I should probably search this — about why Colby was getting the better of him early on. [Usman] said something like like ‘I got too emotional.’”
For Askren, this was clearly conflicting and ungenuine:
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Askren added. “You just tried to say in the first question that you don’t get shook at all and it didn’t bother you, and then two questions later you admit that you got emotional and it did bother you. It’s really simple. People don’t want to be lied to. They don’t want to be lied to! People want genuineness.”
“Funky” believes it is this sort of inconsistency that makes it hard for fans in general to endear themselves to Usman. He also offered an alternate approach:
“Listen, he would have came off a whole lot better if he would have said something really simple like ‘man, it was annoying, it bothered me, and it felt so good to punch that dude in the face, oh baby,’” Askren explained. “People would have loved it! Everyone can relate to someone that’s been in there life that annoyed the sh*t out of them, for whatever reason it is. Most people don’t get to punch that guy in the face on national TV. [Usman] got the opportunity to, but then he failed to acknowledge that that felt really good and that the trash talk did bother him.
“Within two questions, he lied about it. Then he pretty much admitted he was lying. That fakeness, that lack of genuineness, is what people can feel. Even if they can’t put it into words like I’m putting it into words for you, they feel it. That’s why they can’t relate to him. That’s why he’s not capturing the hearts and minds of fans. If he would have said ‘guys, he bugged the sh*t out of me, and that felt so good to punch him in the face. Oh my God, it felt good’… dude, they would have loved it. They would have loved it! People would have went nuts for that. But he didn’t. He lied to the people. The people felt it.”
What do you think of Askren’s critique? Looking too much into it or does he have a point?
