Kamaru Usman claims Colby Covington turned down a fight against him multiple times until 'he had no choice'

Kamaru Usman has revealed that he could've fought Colby Covington several years ago, but 'Chaos' avoided him multiple times.

According to Usman, Covington had always turned him down from when they were at the beginning of their professional MMA careers up until the time they were both prospects in the UFC. Appearing on a recent episode of the Full Send podcast, Usman said:

"They brought my name up like, 'Hey, you wanna fight this guy?' and he [Covington] was like, 'Oh, he's a wrestler too, no I don't wanna fight him.' So he was a little shook, even way back then when I only had one professional fight. Then years later, we knew each other, we were around the same circle but I was offered to him like three or four times after joining the UFC, he turned it down till he had no choice. The only way I would've fought Colby Covington was the way it went – me becoming champion and him having to challenge."

Way before they were UFC stars, Usman and Covington were acquaintances as they were fixtures of the collegiate amateur wrestling scene. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' also revealed that he never "ran into" Covington even though they competed in the same circles and the same weight class.

Watch Kamaru Usman's full interview on the Full Send podcast below:

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Colby Covington claims he should've beaten Kamaru Usman at UFC 268

Kamaru Usman is now 2-0 against Colby Covington after retaining his welterweight title in the main event of UFC 268. However, Covington is adamant that he had done enough in the late rounds to earn a decision victory.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Covington claimed:

"I clearly won that fight three to two. The third, fourth, and fifth round were my rounds – and even if you were looking on a different side of the scope, I think you could see me winning the first round too. It was very close and competitive. After ten rounds, the people see what happened. We fought two times. At the ten rounds, at the worst, I’m winning six rounds to four. So, I think there needs to be another fight, there’s needs to be a trilogy if [Kamaru Usman] stays around, if he wants to stick around."

Watch Colby Covington's full interview with Submission Radio below: