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Ahead of a rematch with Colby Covington two years in the making, Kamaru Usman was honored by USADA for successfully completing 50 clean drug tests.
'The Nigerian Nightmare' was presented with a commemorative jacket by UFC Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitzky. He pointed out that Kamaru Usman's achievement is different than other fighters who have reached the milestone.
"He is the first athlete to reach fifty successful, blemish-free tests competing his entire UFC career under the program," Jeff Novitzky said.
However, his bitter rival Colby Covington is not convinced of Kamaru Usman's feat.
In an interview with BT Sport shortly afterwards, 'Chaos' compared the UFC welterweight champion's clean USADA record with that of Barry Bonds, a former MLB player who became a central figure in American baseball's steroids scandal.
Covington accused Usman of cheating the system with the help of his brother, who is a doctor.
"My immediate reaction is that he is ahead of the curve. He has a brother for a doctor, and they’re able to mask the drugs in his system. Everybody knows Barry Bonds was doing steroids his whole career, but he never got caught because he was ahead of the curve. It is the same thing for Marty," Colby Covington said.
"You can look on his stomach and see all the injection marks, you can see all the acne breaking out on his back, breaking out on his face. You can’t tell me you have a chemical imbalance on your body when you’re 35-years old. He is a cheater, he is the 'Marty Juiceman', and he is the CEO of EPO."
Watch Colby Covington's full interview with BT Sport below:
Colby Covington has long been accusing Kamaru Usman of PED usage
Kamaru Usman's achievement comes in the wake of Colby Covington once again accusing him of taking steroids. For as long as Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman have been beefing up, the former has accused the latter of using PEDs.
Ahead of their first encounter, which was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 244, Covington claimed the bout was pushed back to UFC 245 because Usman could not pass a drug test. He also claimed that Usman was using EPO (Erythropoietin) for two years, which caused breakouts on the latter's shoulders and back.
Covington challenged Usman to "pee in a cup right now" for a test for $25,000. The champion did not take the bait and ended up beating 'Chaos' with a fifth-round TKO, while Covington took home a partially broken jaw.
Kamaru Usman will defend his 170lbs. belt against Colby Covington at UFC 268 on November 6, 2021 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
