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Kamaru Usman has hit back at his arch rival Colby Covington for saying his jaw wasn't broken during their UFC 245 fight in 2019.
Covington recently told MMA journalist Brett Okamoto that he is tougher than anybody in the UFC and can endure anything thrown at him. He added that his jaw was perfectly fine despite receiving severe punishment, as opposed to several reports back then.
ESPN MMA shared the quote in a post on Instagram. Usman immediately responded in the comments section by saying the UFC 245 main event was stopped to save the life of 'Chaos'.
"What you meant to say is... I was feeling weakness. I wanted a way out, I knew I was going to get fuc**d up even worse so I wanted my coaches to stop the fight and save my life."
'The Nigerian Nightmare' defeated Covington via TKO in the fifth round at UFC 245 in Las Vegas. In doing so, he successfully defended his welterweight championship for the first time.
Kamaru Usman is the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC
Kamaru Usman replaced former two-time light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at the top of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings in September. Jones has since moved to No.4, behind featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.
Usman will next take on No.1 welterweight contender Colby Covington in a rematch in the main event of UFC 268. The pay-per-view will take place this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Since dethroning Tyron Woodley with a unanimous decision win at UFC 235 in 2019, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has successfully defended his belt four times, once each versus Covington and Gilbert Burns and twice against Jorge Masvidal.
No.3-ranked Leon Edwards will take on Masvidal at UFC 269 in December. If Kamaru Usman defeats 'Chaos' and Edwards beats 'Gamebred', the two winners are likely set to face off sometime in 2022.
