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The surprising words Colby Covington said to Kamaru Usman after UFC 268 title loss

by · talkSPORT

It was a build-up filled with bad blood, but there was respect shown between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington at the end of their UFC 268 main event.

Usman is still the welterweight champion, beating his rival 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 in another classic that had Madison Square Garden rocking with fans delighted at what they were seeing.

Just like their first fight, Usman and Covington got into a real war againGETTY
But they could appreciate the Hell they both went through after five rounds in the octagonGetty
Covington fell at the final hurdle again and could only applaud his rival when his hand was raisedGetty Images - Getty

Usman managed to solidify his status as the pound-for-pound best with his 19th successive win as he extended his record to 20-1. Much of the reason he secured the victory was down to the work he did in the first two rounds.

The champion managed to open up a cut under Covington’s eye in the first round and through three rounds, the Nigerian Nightmare had more than 50 strikes landed on the American’s head.

In the second round, Usman scored a knockdown with a sweet left-hook. As Covington struggled to his feet, Usman put him down again with another left hand.

Usman has never been taken down in his UFC career, but it seemed as though he was taken down for the first time in the third round. UFC statisticians did not count it, Daniel Cormier was adamant on commentary that Covington had secured it.

After Usman won the first two rounds by a wide margin, Covington made quite a remarkable recovery to get back into the fight in the next two. Covington found success standing in front of Usman and finding his jab and when he didn’t like what was coming back, he’d go for a takedown attempt and force Usman to stuff it.

Covington had his momentsGETTY

Right at the end of the fourth round, Covington had an uppercut that stunned the champion, but he had no time to follow it up. As the fight went into the fifth, that same uppercut continued to give Usman problems but the jab punished Covington as the Nigerian Nightmare edged out the significant strike stats.

The fight was stopped with 40 seconds to go in the fifth and final round because of an eye poke from Usman. Once resumed, he was able to see the fight out.

Incredibly, the pair showed respect at the end of the fight with Covington saying “It’s all about making money, nothing but love,” showing the true character of the man. Usman nodded and said “respect” too.

After the fight, Usman told Joe Rogan: “I know there’s a lot of bad blood here and there probably still will be after the fight, but I got to give it up to Colby – he’s a tough son of a b****.”

“I can tell his coaches had been working on his power and his punches, so I had to show him some respect,” said Usman.

It seemed like the pair would clash after the bell, but it was about respectGETTY