Colby Covington has accused Kamaru Usman of ducking him and confirmed that he wants to face his rival in a world title fight next.
UFC welterweight champion Usman (19-1) recently claimed he wants to see more activity from the self-proclaimed 'The People's Champion' to warrant a rematch despite UFC president Dana White confirming Covington is next in line to face him in 2021.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, former interim UFC welterweight champion Covington was left bemused by Usman's demands after he was asked about their possible showdown.
"I’m the No. 1 contender. There’s a No. 1 next to my name [in the rankings]," Covington said to MMA Junkie. "I’m going to fight for a world title my next fight, whether it’s going to be Marty, where it’s going to be – we don’t know where, we don’t know who yet, but we will fight for the world title next.
"Marty’s out there, the CEO of EPO, he doesn’t want to fight. He wants to fight lightweights. He probably wants a trilogy with Masvidal."
"Last time it was six days, now it’s six weeks, now he probably wants to give Masvidal six months. So he’s only looking to fight lightweights.
"He wants Michael Chiesa, a guy who is No. 7 in the rankings that was just getting beat by [Anthony] Pettis like a year ago; now he’s not even in the UFC no more."
The bad blood between the welterweights reached a boiling point in December 2019, when Usman stamped his mark on it in front of a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, dropping Covington with a big right hand and following up on the ground for a TKO victory at 4 minutes, 10 seconds of the fifth round in the main event of UFC 245 in Paradise, Nevada.
Since then, Covington has returned to the win column against Tyron Woodley with a dominant performance at the UFC Apex which has almost certainly put him at the front of the queue for another crack at the welterweight crown.
However, he admits he has been left exasperated by what he perceives as an unwillingness to fight him.
"It’s frustrating. He’s trying to avoid me at all costs," he added. "He knows I’m the toughest fight for him, and he knows he got lucky last time. They’re definitely going to have to force his hand.
"He’s asking for a crazy amount of money to fight me again, so right now he’s just tainting his legacy. The fans are seeing the true side of him.
"He doesn’t want to fight the true next challenger, the No. 1 guy with the No. 1 next to his name, the guy that gave you the toughest fight of his career, that beat you in multiple rounds.
"I had [sic] minimum two or three rounds up before the early stoppage. I was in the fight. I wasn’t out unconscious. I stood right up, and he landed shots to the back of my head. I can’t believe no one talks about that either."
Usman defended his title for the first time against Covington at the T-Mobile Arena and forced a stoppage out of 'Chaos' in Las Vegas. He does not currently have a targeted date for his next title defense.
But Covington has insisted he would happily run it back with his bitter rival for the remarks he made after the bout.
He continued: "He’s just reaffirming to the fans that he’s not the best welterweight. He’s not this GOAT or No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
"If he was, he would want to fight a guy where there’s still a lot of drama to be finished. There’s a lot of unfinished business.
"The ending to that last fight, you shouldn’t want to win like that. That’s not a real winner.
"He’s making this fake narrative that he broke my jaw [when he didn’t]."
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