This Saturday, Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards will square off in the third and final fight in their highly anticipated trilogy. UFC 286 will feature the welterweight championship match at London’s O2 Arena. Unexpected events, as we’ve seen before, could, nevertheless, disrupt fight week plans. Colby Covington will serve as the backup combatant for Edwards vs. Usman 3 in the event that a competitor withdraws at the last minute, like the UFC does with every title fight.
At the official weigh-ins on Friday, Covington weighed 170 pounds.
Also weighing in at championship weight were Usman and Edwards.
While the media and fans were surprised by Covington’s appearance, there were rumours that “Chaos” had been seen in London before the weigh-ins.
At the UFC 286 pre-fight press conference, Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman were questioned on the subject. The current welterweight champion responded as follows:
I don’t know, this is the first I’ve heard of that.
Usman said, implying that he also had not learned about Colby Covington’s status as a backup:
Well, it is the first I’ve heard of it.
It appears that none of them was made aware of Covington’s affiliation, which was kept a secret until the weigh-ins.
During his stint as champion, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman famously squared off twice. Both times, “The Nigerian Nightmare” prevailed, taking the victory by unanimous decision in 2021 and by fifth-round TKO in 2019.
Covington, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the welterweight division, got back on track last year with a strong performance against longtime adversary Jorge Masvidal.
At UFC 286 Kamaru Usman hopes to demonstrate his “exceptional” abilities.
This weekend at UFC 286, Kamaru Usman will face Leon Edwards with a point to prove. Prior to Edwards’ spectacular knockout of ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 278 last year, he was at the top of his game.
Usman is driven to exact revenge for his defeat and successfully reclaim the UFC welterweight title going into the trilogy fight versus Edwards. This is what the former welterweight champion had to say about his impending match during episode three of UFC 286: Embedded.
“I’m extraordinary—not ordinary. Hence, on March 18, I get to go prove it to both myself and him. You know, whether he goes to the belt for at least six months, if he’s glad or upset about it. It’s gone now. Damn, that guy was outstanding, he’s going to say.”
