Colby Covington will finally return to the octagon after one full year of inactivity. Facing off against Joaquin Buckley, Covington will look to break his winning streak. However, as UFC on ESPN 63 draws near, there are rising concerns surrounding Covington’s form. And one person who is particularly worried is the former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman.
Usman is not quite sure which Covington he will be witnessing against Buckley. Since the former’s last match was a title defeat against Leon Edwards, Usman has all the more reason to worry.
Speaking on the ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast, Usman detailed how an aggressive Buckley will try to finish things off early. “I worry about the inactivity of Covington because I said that before in his last fight, I said him going into a title fight with Leon Edwards, but such a long layoff, it’s going to take time to get into the fight to where he starts get going again. That’s the issue that I see here.”
Usman further analyzed that Buckley will not wait in the initial rounds to get a hang of Covington. In fact, the 30-year-old is not afraid to empty his tank in the first round itself. This would be a challenge that Covington needs to deal with. However, Usman also mentioned the bright side. The UFC veteran had a theory about how Covington could come out on top.
Colby Covington’s Formula To Success
Kamaru Usman wants the former title challenger to use his wrestling skills to good effect. Buckley, being an explosive fighter, will depend more on punching. However, if Covington can work his way and force the 30-year-old to grapple, ‘Chaos’ might find an opening to dictate proceedings.
“Get Buckley into wrestling and grappling and up against the cage to really start to build up those lactic acids. Then you can really start to see if he gets to the later Rounds of 3, 4 and 5. Then you could really potentially see Colby wake up,” said Usman.
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And despite the fight being a tough one, Usman thinks Joaquin Buckley is the right person for Chaos. The former UFC champion opined that if Covington wants to stay relevant in the title picture, then he must prove himself against the likes of Buckley. Earlier, Covington was involved in a heavy trash talk with Ian Garry. Unfortunately, nothing fruitful came out of the scathing exchanges.
Also Read: Colby Covington Says He Can’t Respect Kamaru Usman For Being A Cheater
