{"id":155305,"date":"2021-11-05T00:46:31","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T01:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=155305"},"modified":"2021-11-05T03:58:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T03:58:04","slug":"fiery-face-off-turns-ugly-as-bitter-rivalry-explodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=155305","title":{"rendered":"Fiery face-off turns ugly as bitter rivalry explodes"},"content":{"rendered":"

UFC<\/a> welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington had to be pulled apart at their pre-fight media day, as their bitter and hateful rivalry continues.<\/p>\n

It's no secret that the two can't stand each other<\/a> – this isn't some feud where it's being played up for the cameras and they'll shake hands afterwards.<\/p>\n

Their first fight, back in 2019, ended in a fifth-round knockout win to Usman, who broke Covington's jaw in a bout that was at that point extremely close on the scorecards.<\/p>\n

\"Covington's<\/p>\n

Now, they'll get to do it again on Sunday (1pm AEDT).<\/p>\n

"At this point in life, at this point in my career – I look forward to those challenges. On Saturday night, I'll do what I do best and that's smash another challenge," Usman said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> UFC champ wants boxing's biggest star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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The champ said that Covington wasn't the most difficult match-up for him to face, praising his opponent's work ethic but dismissing his legitimacy as a world title contender.<\/p>\n

"He's very talented, he works hard, and he comes to fight each and every time. But like I've said before, in the era that he's existed, he has to live with the fact that somebody was there that was better."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While there was a speck of respect at the start of the press conference, things quickly deteriorated.<\/p>\n

Covington repeated his accusations that Usman faked being hit in the groin and poked in the eye to buy extra stoppages in their first fight, teased the champion about his father being in prison, and called him a drug cheat.<\/p>\n

"You were ready to quit, why'd you fake a nutshot? Why were you faking an eye poke on the other eye? The camera can see you're a terrible actor bro," Covington said.<\/p>\n

"I stayed in the fight and I broke your f–king jaw," Usman reponded.<\/p>\n

"What?" Covington replied. "The only thing broken was you broke your daddy out of jail."<\/p>\n

That prompted another response from Usman: "Oh really? OK. Why did you go back to your corner at the end of the third round and tell them 'I think my jaw is broken'?<\/p>\n

"Because you wanted them to save you. You wanted a way out."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Paine hits back at brutal Warne criticism<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Usman was asked if despite the disdain for one another, if he appreciated how much attention Covington was bringing to the sport.<\/p>\n

"Absolutely. Like I said, I appreciate all my children, and he is my son."<\/p>\n

When the time for talking was over and two had to go face-to-face, Usman shoved Covington, prompting a loud reaction from UFC boss Dana White.<\/p>\n

The two then traded duelling chants from a rowdy crowd as the broadcast went off air.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington had to be pulled apart at their pre-fight media day, as their bitter and hateful rivalry […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155307,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155305\/revisions\/155307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}