COLBY COVINGTON blames his defeat to Kamaru Uman on Marc Goodard, an 'anti-Brexit" referee.
In an epic fight at UFC 245 in December 2019, Chaos lost to the welterweight king, suffering a fifth round TKO loss.
After the 170lb legendary battle, Covington took aim against Usman for deceiving Goddard. He feigned a groin strike as well as an eye injury.
Goddard's decision to stop the fight also engaged Covington who claimed that the Brit was against him right from the beginning as he is a vocal Donald Trump supporter.
He said that the ref had called several fake fouls, even though they weren't there during his appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show.
"I kicked him in the liver and, just as he was about quit, he put down his stomach like he was going to quit.
"Ref stops it. 'Oh nut shot.' They show it in replay. He was clearly hit right in the liver. It wasn't even close."
"Then, I find out that the guy is anti-Brexit. He's from the UK. He hates Trump. He hates Trump supporters.
"So, obviously, he's going to stack the deck against my, and not give me an even playing field.
"He doesn’t want me winning, he doesn’t want me in the spotlight."
Covington will be reviving his rivalry against Usman in the main event at UFC 268 Madison Square Garden.
The former interim champ claims that the pair's rematch was only possible because the UFC threatened to remove the title from the Nigerian Nightmare.
ESPN quoted him as saying, "It's been such an amazing journey. It was hard. It was not meant to be.
They didn't want it to happen. They refused to listen to his manager.
"They tried to find every possible way out of fighting this rematch.
They didn't want to fight, and they must accept it because the UFC made them no other choice.
They said, "Hey, you either fight this fight or you get stripped. It doesn't matter which.
"You have to show the world that you are the best. It's been hard.
Covington is positive that his hand will be raised again and is eager to get into a three-round fight with Africa's first UFC champion.
The former American Top Team star doesn’t see Usman agreeing with a series decider.
Yahoo Sports quoted him as saying: "I'm no coward. I will give the people what they want.
"If they'd like this trilogy, I will do it immediately.
"The problem is that he won't want to return to the States after I finish him next weekend. It will be a life-changing loss.
"He won't want to return for the trilogy. He's likely going to retire."
Free Bets: Get more than PS2,000 in NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
