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‘How they gonna take the belt?’ - Usman denies UFC threatened to strip him

Kamaru Usman was never in danger of being stripped, despite a claim to the contrary made by Colby Covington earlier this week.

Covington spoke with Brett Okamoto of ESPN and said that Usman was forced into accepting a rematch against him because the UFC apparently threatened to strip him of his welterweight championship. The rematch was ultimately agreed upon and will serve as the headliner of an upcoming pay-per-view event in UFC 268, but not for the reason Covington alleged.

Usman told Daniel Cormier on a recent edition of The DC Check-In that there were two reasons why a second fight with Covington was made, and being stripped was not one of them.