Kamaru Usman hasn't earned any praise from his rival Colby Covington who dismissed his win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 — Find out what "Chaos" thought of the win and much more in today's Fightful Fix.
Colby Covington reacts to Kamaru Usman's UFC 261 win
Colby Covington wasn't impressed with Kamaru Usman's performance at UFC 261. Usman knocked out Jorge Masvidal in round two and earned the plaudits from a large portion of the MMA community. Former interim champion Covington however, wasn't one of those who were impressed. In fact, "Chaos" believes that "The Nigerian Nightmare" took too long to finish "Gamebred."
“It took eight minutes longer than I would finish Jorge Masvidal in every time we trained,” Covington said on the ESPN post-fight show (h/t MMA Junkie). “That guy is a journeyman. What’s he got: 15, 20 losses on his record? You shouldn’t be happy or praising yourself for beating a journeyman like that. There’s a reason he’s a backstabber. He’s a street Judas. He’s a bum. If I lost the next 12 fights in a row, I’d still have a better record than journeyman Masvidal.”
Covington is the no.1 contender according to Dana White and is next in line for Usman when he recovers. Covington believes that a quick turnaround for the champ is possible and wants his shot at redemption as soon as he can get it.
“There’s no reason that this fight shouldn’t be on the plate given right away,” Covington told Submission Radio (h/t MMA Junkie). “It’s not like Marty took any damage in the fight. He’s just fought this journeyman. He didn’t take no punches. He took him down, softened him up, got him gassed out, and knocked him out when he was completely dead tired. So, he didn’t take any damage. There’s no reason that this fight should be dragged out or later in the year than it needs to be.”
Robert Whittaker explains why a rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 was impossible
Robert Whittaker has explained why he had to turn down his rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 263. Adesanya was announced to be facing Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 which raised eyebrows amongst many, especially with how impressive "The Reaper" has looked since dropping the belt to "The Last Stylebender." And the Aussie has revealed that he couldn't commit to the fight just yet given his last outing was only over an hour.
“More or less, I was offered the fight about an hour after my fight with Gastelum. There was just no way, physically, I could do that. Not only do I have injuries from that last fight to deal with, I have to fly home to Australia, and then two weeks in [mandatory] isolation. I have to see how my body was feeling, and then I’d have to prepare; all by June. It was impossible,” Whittaker said to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Whittaker also believes that Adesanya wanted to fight him while he isn’t at 100%, but the former champion will wait until the circumstances are better for him to take the fight.
“I can see what Izzy is trying to do. He’s trying to get me to accept the fight injured, on short notice, with all odds against me, but there was just no way I could get there physically. I do want that fight, and my next fight will be for the title. It has to be. He was just really adamant about fighting on that date and I can’t do it. I’m happy to fight the winner after,” Whittaker said.
Valentina Shevchenko says Amanda Nunes trilogy ‘is just going to happen’
Valentina Shevchenko is adamant she will face two-division champ, Amanda Nunes, for a third time. “Bullet” earned her seventh straight win since her second decision loss to Nunes up a division at bantamweight in September 2017 and believes that before she calls her historic career a day, the pair will fight for the third time.
“Amanda? I can say exactly about my career, it’s not over soon, I plan to fight for a long time,” the 33-year-old Kyrgyzstani said at Saturday night’s post-event press conference in Jacksonville, Florida (h/t SCMP). "This fight is just going to happen. I’m not going to push it like, ‘Give me Amanda right now, I’m going to break her face’. I know it’s going to happen when everyone feels there’s is no more, only this fight makes sense. When it happens, it’s going to be big. I will be ready for this.”
Shevchenko might have her work caught out in convincing head honcho Dana White that the trilogy should happen. The UFC president was asked about the potential fight and wasn't overly sold on the idea.
“Valentina and Amanda should have their own legacies,” White said to the media following UFC 261. “They’ve fought a couple of times. People can think whatever they want, there’s always a new contender. It’s not Valentina’s fault that she’s one of the all-time baddest women on this planet. Making her move up to 135 pounds doesn’t make sense, they did it twice. If they both come to me and both want to do it, whatever, I’ll make it happen, but it’s not something I’m thinking about.”
Tommy Fury wants Jake Paul fight: “All I see is easy money against an idiot”
Tommy Fury, the younger brother of Tyson Fury, has called out controversial Jake Paul for a boxing fight. Paul has said he will continue to box and build on his 3-0 start as a professional, despite not facing a legitimate boxer so far. And Fury, who is 5-0, has said he would love to fight the YouTube star and also took a shot at Ben Askren for his lack of striking knowledge.
“We’ll take the fight. If he sent the contract over tonight, it’d be signed and delivered straight back to him. All I see for that fight is easy money against an idiot. He makes YouTube videos for a living, he hasn’t been hit in his face in his entire life, he doesn’t know what it’s like to take a shot," Fury told TalkSport. "I’d put my mother in with Ben Askren and my mother would chin him because he’s no good, he’s useless, he’s a wrestler. UFC is not boxing. If you’re gonna fight an MMA fighter you may as well fight a chef out of a kitchen because they can’t fight, they can’t stand up.”
Calvin Kattar Wants Max Holloway Rematch
Calvin Kattar is eager to get a rematch with Max Holloway, despite the one-sided nature of their first contest. Kattar lost a decisive decision to the former champion in what was considered a clinic in striking by Holloway. Despite how their first fight went, Kattar believes that he will learn from it and get the win in a rematch.
“If I don’t get what I’m after the first time, I have the type of mindset, a personality where I get more motivated the second time,” Kattar shared with MMA Junkie. “I get more motivated when I get set back. Either way, it’s forward. I always fall forward, and I look forward to a Round 6 with Max. He did what he had to do in the first five – hell of a fight, credit to him, and I can’t wait for another opportunity to get a crack at that one.”
Rose Namajunas credits Joanna Jedrzejczyk for supplying blueprint on how to beat Zhang Weili
Rose Namajunas shocked the world once again when she planted Zhang Weili with a left high kick in the first round to regain her UFC strawweight title. "Thug" had shocked the world before when she knocked out Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win her first title. And the new champ has admitted that Weili's fight with the Pole gave showed her that the kick would be on.
“I have been seeing the left high kick in my head just because I watched her fight with Joanna and she’s kind of open for that,” Namajunas said during a post-fight interview with Megan Olivi (h/t MMA Mania). “But that wasn’t the way that I seen the finish in the fight. I seen this fight going many different ways, some bad, some good. And I just had to have faith.”
“I just had to get my range and just had to get patient. She was feeling confident cuz she was touching me with the inside low kick and the jab. Her jab was a nice lil jab she stuck in there. But I think it just helped me get my range and I just controlled my breathing and everything. I was prepared to go for all 25 minutes so I just stayed calm.”
Kamaru Usman: ‘I do believe that right now I’m pound-for-pound, I am the best fighter on the planet’
Kamaru Usman wasn’t interested in touting his career accomplishments following his spectacular finish of Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. The champ was speaking following the PPV and admitted that he will just continue to do what he does best in the Octagon. The win extended his UFC record to 14-0, with "The Nigerian Nightmare" rarely losing many rounds along the way.
“That’s up to them, that’s not up to me,” Usman said at the UFC 261 post-fight press conference when asked about his status as the greatest welterweight in history (h/t MMA Fighting). “I just need to continue to do what I do and that’s dominate every individual. That’s my last three opponents and I’ve finished all three of them. I don’t worry about that. I take it a fight at a time. If people want to consider me the best, then they can. But as of right now, I do believe that right now I’m pound-for-pound, I am the best fighter on the planet.”
Anthony Smith praises Jimmy Crute following UFC 261
Anthony Smith was impressed with what he saw from Jimmy Crute in their short encounters. Smith ended Crute’s night when a perfectly-placed leg kick left “the Aussie unable to continue after the opening stanza. As Crute struggled to stand before Round 2, the bout was waved off. Despite this, "Lionheart" had nothing but praise for his opponent.
“I wish I was half as good as him at his age,” Smith said (h/t Sherdog). “He’s night and day better than I am at that point, or better than I was at that age, at that point in his career. I don’t just don’t want him to get his head down, don’t hang your head, keep your head up high, he’s a warrior. Robert Whittaker is not going to be around forever, so someone is going to have to carry that torch for Australia, and I think he’s that guy.”
Even though he was struggling to find his footing between rounds, it initially appeared as though Crute would come out for the second round. When Smith initially hurt him with the leg kick late in Round 1, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum was able to survive until the horn by landing a pair of takedowns.
“I knew that there was a low chance that he was coming out for the second round, but then he got up and he was wanting to fight,” Smith said. “So I was kicking myself in the ass because I didn’t really listen to the first part of what Marc [Montoya] said because I was like, ‘No way is he getting off that stool.’ And then he got off and I was like ‘Oh s—t, he might actually come out.’ Credit to that guy’s fighting spirit, hell of a tough kid, he’s going to be great someday.”
Randy Brown wants everyone to take him seriously as a future contender
Randy Brown is hoping that his win over veteran Alex Oliveira at UFC 261 will make fans and media see him as a potential contender. Brown dropped and choked out Oliveira with a one-armed rear-naked choke in the first round of their fight after enduring an early onslaught of leg kicks by "Cowboy." Having won three of his past four all by way of finish, Brown thinks it’s time he got the credit he deserves.
“I’m here, and I’m coming,” Brown told reporters at the UFC 261 post-fight news conference (h/t MMA Junkie). “I’ve had some stumbles along the way, but I’m still figuring it out and tonight I showed that. I want them to know that I’m here, and I want them to take me seriously as a future contender.”
Gina Mazany discusses her career resurgence
Gina Mazany considered leaving MMA after her loss to Julia Avila at UFC Vegas 2. But after making the move to join James Krause’s team at Glory MMA in Kansas City with her fiancee, UFC flyweight Tim Elliott, she has found a new home after making the weight cut from bantamweight to flyweight.
“I’m more used to the process now as opposed to before the Rachel Ostovich fight,” Mazany told LowKickMMA. “I feel like 125 is my home. My body’s just changed a lot and I feel healthier and stronger.”
Her upcoming fight at UFC 262 in Houston will also be the UFC’s second full-capacity event since the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns early last year, and she’s very excited to feed off the energy of the fans as she takes on Cachoeira.
“I think more than anything, I’m excited to just perform and have people react,” Mazany said. “I feel like I’m at the point where big things are happening and I’m just excited to entertain.”
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