Kamaru Usman, the UFC’s welterweight champion, revealed in an interview with the Full Send podcast that he defended his title against Colby Covington with a broken hand.
“I broke it before the fight. Most people didn’t know that. I broke it three weeks before and I didn’t throw it a day until the fight itself.
Usman Reveals He Fought Covington With Broken Hand
I didn’t throw it until right backstage. I didn’t throw my hands for three weeks, my right hand.”
How Usman broke his hand is just as fascinating as the sheer fact that he fought one of the toughest men in the game with it. Usman described breaking the hand on UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje’s head in a sparring session. “I broke it on someone’s head.
Justin Gaethje’s head. We spar together. Same coach, main training partners-slash-big brother, little brother-slash-two assassins in the same place. He gets the better of me sometimes. Justin Gaethje’s a savage.”
Usman won the Covington fight, which headlined UFC 268, via unanimous decision. He believes he would have knocked “Chaos” out cold with a fully functioning right hand, and believes the break was responsible for his lack of a finish in the title fight.
“I wouldn’t say, ‘pissed.’ I was a little disappointed [that I didn’t get the finish].
It’s weird, I was in the back and the whole time I just manifested, I’m like, I’m gonna knock him out. I’m so much better than him now, I’m gonna knock him out. But what I realized too is that I haven’t thrown my right hand in three weeks leading up to this fight.
It takes timing. You have to really be clicking to really be able to find that shot, so this is gonna be the first time I’m throwing my right hand in three and a half weeks.
So I get in the fight and I’m going, ‘Damn, I just can’t find him with that right hand.’ But that’s because my timing wasn’t there, but the left hand I was finding him.
He’s tough, he showed how tough he was. He was able to recover very quickly. I made him do the Stanky Leg a couple of times, but he was able to recover quickly and hold on and not get finished.”
Could Kamaru Usman have secured the finish at full health? Let us know in the comments.
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit ScreenJuicer for great videos, news, and gameplay!
