Kamaru Usman will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best welterweight fighters of all time. He isn’t known for doing much of a trash talk with his opponents, but he knows how to get under the skin of an opponent when they meet in the ring.
His determination and hard work are the reasons behind his undefeated run in the promotion. Talking about trash talkers, there are lots of them in the UFC. One such fighter goes by the name of Colby Covington.
During the build-up to their clash at UFC 245, Covington was trying to get under the champ’s skin. ‘Chaos’ had talked trash about Usman’s Nigerian and American identity and even had said that he couldn’t knock him out.
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He said at that time, “Marty doesn’t have any punching power. He doesn’t have one-punch KO power. He’s KO’d maybe one guy in 16 fights, and that guy was a jobber.
“We’re talking about a UFC legend. The most dangerous feared guy in the history of the welterweight division in Robbie Lawler.”
This is not it. He had also earlier made allegations that Usman was faking his injury and subsequent surgery after he had won against Dos Santos. He even called him Marty Fakenewsman.
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UFC 245: Kamaru Usman showed us who’s boss
However, all the trash talk done by Covington about Usman came to haunt him at their showdown. The champ seemed motivated to knock out ‘Chaos’ at any cost. At the end of the 3rd round, Covington had broken his jaw. He was heard saying to his team, “I think I broke my jaw”.
"I think I broke my jaw."@ColbyCovMMA is compromised entering the championship rounds #UFC245 pic.twitter.com/nZTwXThtPY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 15, 2019
Usman dominated their match from thereon and at the latter stage of the 5th round, he connected with a right jab to knock ‘Chaos’ down and followed it up with some punches. The match was over for Covington, and he lost via T(KO).
This was the first time in 8 fights that Covington had lost a fight. Usman finished him in a way that ‘Chaos’ thought impossible. First, he broke his jaw somewhere in the 3rd round and then finished him for good in the 5th.
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Colby, however, argued that the referee stopped the match prematurely, but X-Ray scans of his jaw later showed a crack, suffered at the hands of Usman.
The champ had once again proved why he is known as the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’. What did you make of Usman’s response to Covington’s trash talk?