Colby Covington is claiming that he had food poisoning before he shared the Octagon with Kamaru Usman.

Covington challenged Usman for the UFC welterweight championship back in Dec. 2019. The 170-pound title bout headlined UFC 245 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Chaos” ended up losing the bout via fifth-round TKO. Usman vs. Covington earned MMA News’ Fight of the Year award for 2019.

Covington Claims He Fell Ill Before Usman Bout

Covington appeared on the It’s All About Who You Know podcast. During the interview, the former interim UFC welterweight champion said that the food he consumed during fight week didn’t sit well with him (h/t BJPenn.com).

“I’m not making excuses,” Covington began. “I haven’t really told anybody, but the UFC was preparing meals for me all fight week, and I ended up getting really sick of one of their meals. I think they didn’t cook the chicken very good, and I got food poisoning two nights before the fight. I puked like 30 times, literally like 30 times.”

Covington was riding a seven-fight winning streak before being stopped by Usman. In that span, Covington beat the likes of Robbie Lawler, Rafael dos Anjos, and Demian Maia. The defeat to Usman is Covington’s first loss since Dec. 2015.

Usman is expected to defend his welterweight championship against Jorge Masvidal next. UFC president Dana White has said that the bout is possible for International Fight Week in July. Usman revealed to reporters later on that no deal has been signed as of now.

Covington isn’t convinced that Usman vs. Masvidal will come to fruition. “Chaos,” who was once good friends with Masvidal, said he thinks “Gamebred” will price himself out. As a result, Covington feels he will receive an immediate rematch with Usman.

Do you believe Colby Covington truly suffered from food poisoning going into his bout with Kamaru Usman?