Colby Covington (16-3) såg ut att vara ödmjuk i nederlaget mot welterviktsmästaren Kamaru Usman (20-1) vid helgens huvudmatch men Covington bytte sannerligen attityd endast minuter efter detta.
Colby Covington ansåg att poängdomarna dömde fel
Efter att haltat till post-fight presskonferensen med det som han misstänker vara en bruten fot ansåg den alltid frispråkige Covington att han förtjänade att få segern av poängdomarna även fast han sagt att Usman hade en ”bättre natt” då han inte var nöjd med sin insats:
I’m definitely not proud of my performance. I should have won that. It was laser thin again. I honestly thought I had it 3-2. It was very close. He clipped me, I clipped him a couple times. Whatever media reporter in here said I went for 11 takedowns and had unsuccessful attempts, fake news. Do real journalism. That’s why you guys are journalists. You don’t have journalism degrees cause you put this fake news out. I obviously took him down so I broke that stat so you can’t hype him up anymore and say he’s never been taken down cause I took him down.
I think we have unfinished business. I’ll give five more rounds out in the parking lot right now. I’m serious about that. I will see him again. I’m not done with him.
Alla tre poängdomare gav Usman segern med poängen 49-46, 48-47 och 48-47. Enligt deras poängkort ansåg alla att Usman vann de två första ronderna. Covington håller dock inte med om detta och fattar inte hur en domare ansåg att han förlorade genom 49-46.
I still think I was right there. I didn’t think he clearly won [rounds] one and two. Maybe [round] two cause he clipped me but [round] one was very close. I don’t know you can just out right give it to him. It was a very close fight. Whatever judge put it 49-46 is out of their f*cking mind.
Kamaru Usman fuskade
Bortsett från poängkorten hävdade Colby Covington att Usmans seger kom genom fusk då nigerianen i början av den första ronden slog Covington i bakhuvudet när denne försökte sig på en nedtagning:
He’s a cheating coward. I have no respect for that guy. He’s obviously a cheater. He’s cheated in multiple fights. He was holding my glove tonight against the cage. In the first round I went for a takedown and he went bam, bam, twice to the back of the head. I think Dan Miragliotta’s one of the top three best refs in the game, I told him before the fight, do not let this guy hit me in the back of the head and he did. If you go back and look at the footage, clearly in the back of the head.
When you hit somebody in the back of the head, it definitely dazes you real quick. That caught me off guard and just more tactics of him cheating. You’ll never see me cheating or trying to cheat. That unfair shake again. I still think I got the job done but I promise you haven’t seen the last of me.
Kort efter att matchen slutat delade herrarna faktiskt ett par ord och skakade hand i det som såg ut att vara en begravning av stridsyxan efter att bjudit på ännu en klassiker.
Den korta freden med Usman tog dock slut när Covington samlat sig och var redo att tilltala samlad media vid post-fight presskonferensen:
There was a little bit of respect for each other, even though he cut corners and I’ve never had to cut corners in my career. I came here the long way. I earned this, blood, sweat and tears the long way. Never cheated, never cut comers.
I’m just a blue collar kid from Thurston, Oregon, in these big fights. If that’s the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world, I just put on two epic fights with him, beat him in multiple rounds. So where does that put me? Why am I not in the pound-for-pound rankings? Oh yeah, I forgot, everybody hates me.
Tror sig få utmana om titeln snart igen
Trots att han nu har 0-2 mot Usman så tror inte Colby Covington att det kommer dröja allt för länge innan han kommer få en tredje match mot mästaren.
Med tanke på den uppmärksamhet som UFC 268 fick är Covington självsäker på att han nu kommer bärga en eller två imponerande segrar och sedan få utmana Usman igen:
I can’t respect a guy like that. Go look on YouTube. The guy dissected everything he cheats on and you see those injection marks all over his stomach, the guy’s not a clean fighter. I’m a clean fighter. I’m raw steel and twisted sex appeal. I did this the hard way.
I’m a kid from Springfield-Thurston, Oregon and look at me. I just sold out Madison Square Garden, fourth highest gate in the company’s history, the pay-per-view numbers are astronomical. Take one guess who did all that? That’s me. I’m the one that sold this event. I’m the one that put all these asses in the seats. Whether you love me or hate me, you came to watch me tonight and that’s not debatable.
Ni kan se intervjun med Covington nedan:
