Colby Covington denies breaking jaw in Kamaru Usman fight

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has denied that be broke his jaw during his title match against Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 245.

There has been plenty of speculation that Covington broke his jaw fairly early against Usman and that he continued to fight with it up until the finish late in the fifth round. After losing the fight, Covington was criticized for running backstage and not waiting for the official result to be read, but he also got a pass due to breaking his jaw.

However, according to Covington, he says that he didn’t actually break his jaw in the Usman fight. here’s what Covington said on Monday’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s ESPN MMA Show.

"I didn't break my jaw in that fight."@ColbyCovMMA says his jaw was not broken against Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/llHNREC2fL

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 3, 2020

“No I didn’t break my jaw in that fight. Does my jaw look broken? I’ve been smiling, I’ve been with all my mamacitas,” Covington said.

Speculation that Covington broke his jaw against Usman meant that most weren’t expecting him to return to the Octagon until sometime this summer. With the news that Covington didn’t break his jaw, he should be able to return to the UFC in short order.

Following his win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Raleigh, rising welterweight Michael Chiesa called out Covington for a fight at the UFC’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas in July. So far, Covington hasn’t responded to the offer of being Chiesa’s dance partner. Perhaps the UFC could book this fight even sooner if Covington gets cleared to fight soon.

Usman himself also mentioned that he could potentially rematch against Covington at some point. Usman praised Covington for his performance in the fight and said that he wouldn’t be surprised if the two eventually rematch for the UFC welterweight title down the road. Of course, Covington will need to get a couple of wins before that happens.

Do you believe Colby Covington that he didn’t break his jaw against Kamaru Usman?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/3/2020.