With UFC 268, headlined by Usman vs Covington 2, Colby Covington has explained precisely how leaving American Top Team following his loss to Kamaru Usman is why he’ll be winning this weekend.
Covington told Yahoo Sports that he’ll be delivering a “life changing defeat” to Kamaru Usman, thanks in no small part to his freshly assembled team, dubbed “Colby Covington Inc”.
Covington says Leaving ATT Made Him Better Fighter
“I changed everything up. I left my old training camp I was at when I fought him. I hired and enlisted new training partners, new coaches, and I have a whole new program around me. Before, I was at a big gym and that was taking away from my development as a fighter.
Now, I have a team that is fully focused on me. I’m at Colby Covington Incorporated and we’re just focused on my progress and my evolution as a fighter every day. We don’t care about other fighters. All we care about is me, and my success, and growing together as a team.”
In their last fight, Covington and Usman seemed evenly matched until the final round. In round five, Usman knocked Covington down with devastating power, eventually sealing the win via TKO. Colby Covington has since declared this a “fake stoppage” and illegitimate win, and he’ll have the chance to prove himself once more this Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
“I have a completely different game plan and [on Saturday], the world’s going to see.
I can’t give you a spoiler. Usually, I’m the king of spoilers and I end up telling people how the fight’s going to go. But this is like watching a movie. If you see the beginning of the movie, you don’t get the ending. You have to tune in, live on pay-per-view.”
Changing camps and tactics following a defeat is nothing new in sports, and Colby Covington may well be on the right track here. UFC President Dana White has long praised the approach many boxers take to fight camps, assembling an entire team to help them prepare for the big fight.
Although MMA fighters, particularly bigger names, are capable of doing so, typically they prepare for fights with their usual team from their gym. Colby Covington’s approach is not unique, but at such a high level in MMA having an entire camp catering to one man’s development can’t hurt.
Do you think Colby will be the one to dethrone Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments.
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