Give Colby Covington credit.
He may be one of the most odious pieces of shit in the UFC, an unrepentant fascist and racist who cynically plays to the lowest common denominator of hooting idiots that infest this country. But he’s a damn good mixed martial artist – and he will likely go down as the greatest rival of one of the sport’s greatest chapions.
For five rounds in December 2019, Covington pushed the pressure on welterweight king Kamaru Usman, and had a shot to win on points heading into the fifth. Usman had to literally break Covington’s jaw to stop his advance. And on Saturday night, in yet another heart-pounding encounter between the world’s two best 170-pounders, he once again put the pressure on Usman.
Since his win over Covington two years ago, Usman had seemingly ascended to another plane of existence. The tutelage of Trevor Wittman, one of the very best coaches in the sport, had elevated him to a new level as a striker, while retaining his amazing physical strength and wrestling acumen. Suddenly, Usman wasn’t smothering opponents to dominant and boring decisions anymore. He was knocking them senseless with his fists.
Usman looked like an unsolvable problem. He still looks that way. But even against a stronger and better version of Usman, Covington gave him immense trouble. Although the scorecards this time around were more heavily tilted toward Usman, I actually thought this fight was much closer, even after Usman twice dropped Covington near the end of the second round and came close to finishing him.
Usman was in complete control through the first two rounds. I thought Covington had put together at least some kind of blueprint towards beating Usman on the cards in their first fight: pure volume striking. Throw a ton at the wall, see what sticks, hopefully don’t get knocked out, and pray that everything you do is enough to get the judges to look kindly upon your efforts. In the first two rounds, Covington was more measured, and it wasn’t to his benefit. He was playing a game he didn’t want to play.
But Covington roared back from his moment of desperation at the end of the second, turning up the heat and making Usman sweat. He stung Usman a few times with hard punches – he had a particularly timely uppercut working that made you wonder what might have happened if he had even average punching power – and deep in the third round, came this close to landing a takedown that had it counted (and the difference between how takedowns are scored between wrestling and MMA has caused a big online argument about whether it should have) would have been the first ever scored against Usman in the Octagon.
He also exposed one of the last remaining holes in Usman’s game. All the incredible strides he’s taken aside, he’s still not a natural striker. With an aggressive fighter pushing in his face, he can still be robotic and hittable. Gilbert Burns hinted at this earlier this year, and against Covington, it became much more glaring.
Yes, Covington’s performance was an extremely impressive one. Usman’s even more so. And at the end of the five rounds, we saw something we never thought we’d see: a show of respect between these two bitter rivals.
But yes, once again Kamaru Usman conquered. He stared down one of the best fighters in the world in his weight class, one with strengths that were tailored towards some of his weaknesses, and got the job done yet again. During his rise and his reign, we’ve seen Usman storm through opponents at times. But the true measure of a champion isn’t determined with quick knockouts or dominant showings. The true measure of a champion when he faces adversity. When he faces an opponent who isn’t going to go away. And once again, Kamaru Usman conquered.
After the fight, UFC president Dana White said that he thinks Usman is the greatest welterweight of all time. I still think he has a ways to go to reach the standing of Georges St-Pierre, but at this point, he isn’t far off. He’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and there shouldn’t be any argument. When you can prevail in a fight like this, there’s not much more you can say.
There isn’t much left standing in between Kamaru Usman and achieving a legacy we’ll be talking about for decades to come. That’s what happens when you dig in and show grit in the biggest and toughest moments of your career. We have seen not just the evolution of a great fighter – we have seen the evolution of an all-time great champion.
The Big Fight 