Colby Covington wants in-cage faceoff with Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal winner at UFC 261

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Colby Covington hopes to get a face-to-face look at the winner of the UFC 261 main event after the dust settles between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) has a well-documented history with both men set to fight for the welterweight title in Saturday’s headliner. He fought Usman (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) to a thrilling fifth-round TKO loss at UFC 245 in December 2019, and was a former friend and training partner of Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC) before their relationship took a turn for the worse and they became heated enemies.

No matter who wins, Covington will have a big fight in front of him. UFC president Dana White has already labeled him the likely No. 1 contender to the throne, and if Covington has his way, he’ll enter the octagon immediately after the fight and get a good look at the winner.

“I hope that Dana puts that together,” Covington told MMA Junkie on Friday. “I would love to go look the winner in the eyes and let them know I’m next. Then the fans can see how cowardice they are when they go hiding and they go looking for a way out or ‘retirement’ or ‘I’m walking away from the sport.’ I’m hoping I get to look them in the eyes tomorrow night, but I don’t know if there will be enough men in the building to hold me back from what I’m going to do to the winner tomorrow night.”

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UFC 261 takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena with a main card that streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Covington said he hopes to one day settle his feud with both men, but isn’t sure if that’ll materialize. Only one can be first, and his expectation – and preference – is for that to be Usman. He’s still bitter about the way their fight ended at UFC 245, and has repeatedly gone into detail about how he thought Usman bent the rules to victory.

A rematch has to happen, Covington said, but he’s not sure it will. Usman has hinted in the lead-up to UFC 261 that retirement for him may not be far off, and Covington said he wouldn’t be surprised if “The Nigerian Nightmare” skips town after this fight.

“Of course I would rather it be ‘Marty Fakenewsman,’” Covington said. “We have unfinished business. That first fight, there’s a bad taste in my mouth, there’s a bad taste in the fans’ mouth. … That fight needs to be run back. That’s the best fight that people want to see and it’s the fight that the fans deserve. But honestly, he’s already talking about retiring, so I don’t see that fight happening. He’s probably going to retire and not fight me. Masvidal doesn’t want to fight me. He’s already turned down that fight for a year. He knows who his daddy is. Jorge Masvidal’s my son, and he knows what.”

If Covington’s vision of Usman retiring and Masvidal avoiding a fight with him comes to life, it would leave both him and the 170-pound weight class in a curious predicament. The winner of Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz would likely be the next top contender, but Covington said he doesn’t care who he would face in a potential vacant title bout.

The gold is the ultimate goal for “Chaos,” and although there might be a perception he’s trying to pick and choose his spots en route to the strap, he said that’s not remotely true.

“I don’t pick my fights,” Covington said. “I let UFC and Dana White decide that. I’ve never turned down a fight. People like to go with this fake narrative I’ve been turning down fights. I haven’t turned down one fight. I haven’t had an official fight offer besides Jorge Masvidal in the last year, and I accepted every single day for the last eight months. I’m ready to fight him. I’m ready to expose him. Look at all the lies he was saying about how I got kicked out of the gym.”

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