Colby Covington offers to rematch Kamaru Usman at UFC 251
With Gilbert Burns’ enforced withdrawal from UFC 251 due to a positive COVID-19 test, Colby Covington has emphatically thrown his red MAGA hat into the ring and offered to step in on one week’s notice and face Kamaru Usman in a welterweight title rematch.
UFC 251 takes place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on July 11 (July 12 locally), and with Usman losing his scheduled title challenger just one week out, former interim champion Covington has offered to step in and face “The Nigerian Nightmare” once again.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Covington (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) revealed how he heard the news of Burns’ withdrawal, and declared his willingness to step in and face Usman on “Fight Island” next Saturday
“Last night I opened up my Twitter and I’m looking at our great President’s tweets and being at Mount Rushmore and all the festivities of America’s birthday and celebrating the fourth of July. And all of a sudden, my timeline starts filling up. ‘Colby, save the day!’ and I see that dirty Dilbert has the ‘Rona. And then it only made sense to put my name in the hat.”
Covington faced Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) for the welterweight title last December at UFC 245. In a well-matched battle, the pair went toe-to-toe for five rounds before Usman eventually claimed a final-round TKO stoppage to defeat Covington, who sustained a broken jaw during the bout. Covington maintains he wasn’t at his best during that fight and promised that he would avenge his defeat in decisive fashion if given the chance to step in at UFC 251.
