Sitting at the dais of Madison Square Garden for the final press conference of UFC 268 on Thursday, Kamaru Usman had enough.
The welterweight champion heard the ultra personal shots being hurled at him by Colby Covington and finally delivered his strongest reaction yet.
“As a competitor, I love what he brings to the table,” Usman said. “He pushes me and I expect that from him. But as a person, he’s a piece of s—. I can’t believe his father let him put this persona on.”
Usman vows that he’s not solely thinking about finishing Covington in this grudge match Saturday night the way he did Jorge Masvidal with his biggest knockout yet back at UFC 261 in April. But such a resounding KO of Covington would certainly add to his legacy as a fighting champion, giving him his fifth consecutive title defense. And more, if you let Usman tell it.
“For me personally, it’s not where my head is at,” Usman told DAZN about hunting for the knockout only. “But it'll only improve (my legacy).
“I want to put a wide gap to really let people know that No. 1 — he’s the greatest pound-for-pound fighter right now and potentially could be the greatest UFC fighter or MMA fighter that we’ve ever seen,” he continued. “I want to definitely create that gap and I think another finish like that — an exciting finish like that — is definitely going to put a distance between myself and the rest.”
Usman is riding an 18-fight win streak entering MSG, having laid Covington, Gilbert Burns and Masvidal (twice) to waste. Three of those victories came via finish. In Usman's eyes, Covington has more than earned a similar savage treatment. Usman understands Covington’s need to create the MAGA character that he did for himself. But taking shots at his family, the way Covington spewed Thursday, has “The Nigerian Nightmare” thinking pure violence in the Octagon on Saturday night.
“He did what he had to do to give himself some relevancy, to be noticed, to be recognized,” Usman reflected about Covington's crafted persona. “That has nothing to do with me. That’s the route he chose to go to. I’m sitting in the position that he’d like to be in — which is pound-for-pound undisputed champion of the world. He feels like him behaving that way, creating that character is the only way for him to be relevant. That’s fine.
“But anything you say about me, I’ve always said,” he added, “can and will be used against you when you step inside that Octagon with me."
Usman shoved Covington during their faceoff following the press conference. He vows much worse when the two get locked in the Octagon for the second time in roughly two years.
“I might break someone’s face for real. You don’t want to miss that.”