Kamaru Usman has given his thoughts on the alleged sucker punch from Jorge Masvidal to Colby Covington in Miami.
After Covington dominated Masvidal at UFC 272, ‘Gamebred’ said the rivalry wasn’t over and he allegedly jumped and sucker-punched ‘Chaos’ outside of a restaurant. Masvidal was since taken into custody and he faces one count of aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm and one count of criminal mischief. He was released on a $15,000 bond.
Now, after the incident, many fighters have shared their thoughts, but Kamaru Usman, who had fought and beat both men twice shared his feelings on it. According to the welterweight champion, he says Jorge Masvidal should not have jumped Colby Covington, but he says “Chaos” crossed the line with the trash-talk, meaning he thinks they are both in the wrong.
“One, it’s unfortunate because it’s taken itself, it’s growing legs now out of just sports to actuality and reality,” Usman said in a recent Instagram live session. “That’s what’s the danger about what you say trying to build a fight or leading up to a fight. You have to watch your mouth. You can’t just run off at the mouth and say what you want or do what you want and expect the opponent to still keep it sport-related.
“Of course some people, i.e like myself, I am just wise enough to understand that you could say whatever you want to say. At the end of the day, I will do my talking with my hands inside once we step in there because that is what I’m there for, is to compete,” Usman said.
“So you can say and do whatever you want to try and throw me off my competitive edge, which is my mind, but at the end of the day, you can’t. I will go in there and I will still handle business. But in this case, you said a lot of things that crossed the line, and some people are not wise enough to not risk it all outside.”
Kamaru Usman then went on to say Jorge Masvidal did handle it poorly as a professional fighter can’t get into street fights, especially against other fighters.
“Now (Masvidal is) facing counts, and now you could potentially go away,” Usman added. “So that’s the unfortunate nature of the situation. I don’t like it. Both guys, I believe, are in the wrong. You can’t just do what you want and say what you want just because you want to sell something, and I feel that’s wrong – very wrong.
“But also, you can’t go as an athlete – as an elite athlete, you’re one of the best athletes in the world – you can’t just go attacking somebody in the street,” Usman concluded. “Yeah, I understand it’s another athlete, but you can’t just do that when it’s outside of competition. So both guys took a big ‘L’ on that one. (I) pray for both, though. (I) hope they’re OK.”
