Colby Covington has issued a chilling threat as he called out Kamaru Usman for a rematch - promising to 'take him into deep waters.'

UFC welterweight champion Usman (19-1) viciously stopped Jorge Masvidal in the second round to defend his 170lbs belt for the fourth time at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida.  

Former UFC title challenger Covington also lost to Usman in their unification title fight at UFC 245 in December 2019, and put the defeat down to a lack of preparation at American Top Team. 

Now Covington (16-2) has switched camps, he feels he'll be ready for the defending champion in a rematch - and insists he wasn't impressed by Usman's performance. 

"It took eight minutes longer than I would finish Jorge Masvidal in every time we trained," Covington said to ESPN. "That guy is a journeyman. What’s he got: 15, 20 losses on his record?

"You shouldn’t be happy or praising yourself for beating a journeyman like that. There’s a reason he’s a backstabber. He’s a street Judas. He’s a bum. If I lost the next 12 fights in a row, I’d still have a better record than journeyman Masvidal."

"I definitely knew it was a possibility because he puts the threat of a takedown," he added. "That’s what Masvidal was worried about. He was worried about the takedown. He didn’t want to get taken down and gassed out. So he’s worried about getting taken down and, boom, he hits him with the right. He has his hands down, trying to defend the takedown. I knew it was a possibility."

Colby Covington

The welterweight feud dates back to 2015, when Usman won The Ultimate Fighter 21: American Top Team vs Blackzilians.

Their first fight came four years later, when Usman beat Covington via technical knockout in the fifth round.

They have held talks over a rematch, but Usman instead chose to defend his title against Masvidal.

Usman beat top contender Leon Edwards on his debut in 2015 but the Brit is scheduled to face Nate Diaz in a potential title eliminator. 

Covington

If he wins convincingly, he could be next for Usman, who has stated that he wants some time off, further delaying a confrontation with Covington.  

But Covington believes he just needs to make a few adjustments in terms of his striking to be able to beat Usman when they meet for a second time. 

"It’s a different style matchup when I fight ‘Marty,'" he concluded. "He knows he can’t take me down. I’m going to take him down into deep waters. I’m going to take him down and I’m going to finish him. There are no more fake nut shots next time. I have new coaches now. I have a new team behind me. Before, there was so much drama at my old gym. People were screaming at me. I couldn’t get my training time in. Now, I have Daniel Valverde [and] Cesar Carneiro over at MMA Masters.

"We’re getting better every single day. My striking is on a whole other level. What has to go different is I have to put a higher pace on him next time. I didn’t put enough pace on him last time and just keep my hands up. I know I’m going to get my hand raised when I fight him."