Colby Covington Expects Kamaru Usman To Get Stripped Of Title
Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington is getting fed up of Kamaru Usman’s lack of activity, and expects him to get stripped of his title.
Usman won the welterweight title when he out-classed Tyron Woodley over five rounds at UFC 235 in March. He was then expected to defend his newly-won title in a grudge match against Covington.
However, over three months after his win over Woodley, there has been no real progress towards making that fight happen. For his part, Usman is recovering from injuries and recently claimed he was hoping to return before the end of the year. “The Nigerian Nightmare” also had doubts about whether Covington would accept a fight with him.
Covington, though, claims it is Usman who is delaying the fight by continuously trying to negotiate with the UFC:
“I’ve been presented contracts [for] as early as June in Chicago,” Covington said in a recent interview with Helen Yee. “Then they talked about July in International Fight Week in Vegas. Then they talked about Australia, they talked about Abu Dhabi. They’ve talked about everywhere. It’s all on his side.
“He’s trying to negotiate with the UFC, but he’s finding out that no one cares about him. Nobody’s interested in him as a fighter so he’s not going to be able to negotiate and get leverage like he thinks he is.”
Covington ideally wants to fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden where the UFC is expected to go for their annual November visit. “Chaos” also expects to be fighting for a title even if it’s not against Usman – which means the champion could be stripped of his belt.
“Absolutely [he will be stripped]. November will be eight or nine months since he’s fought. How much more time does he need?” Covington added. “He’s just pushing it back, pushing it back, trying to negotiate and not fight.
“He’s not here to make this division great again like I am. They might strip him of his number one contender belt, I don’t really care. I got the real world championship and I’m going to fight for another world championship in November.“
