Casino showdown: UFC rivals Usman & Covington in Las Vegas scuffle (VIDEO)
It didn't take long for Colby Covington to take some shine off Kamaru Usman's UFC welterweight title win as the two UFC rivals were involved in an unsightly scuffle in a Las Vegas casino.
Usman had comprehensively beaten Tyron Woodley on Saturday night to capture the UFC welterweight world title, while former interim champion Covington watched from octagonside.
Covington had gone to great lengths to insert himself into the narrative during fight week, gatecrashing Usman's open workout session at the MGM Grand, walking in on Dana White's private blackjack game at the Palms Casino and making sure he was a visible presence at cageside during the Woodley-Usman title fight at the T-Mobile Arena.
And in a video posted by TMZ, Covington became involved in a bad-tempered exchange with Usman's bodyguard and his manager Ali Abdelaziz in a Vegas casino.
It is unclear how the incident started, but the video showed angry words being exchanged as security looked to keep Abdelaziz and Usman's bodyguard from physically confronting a retreating Covington.
At one point Abdelaziz appeared to aim a half-punch at Covington, as security separated the two dueling parties.
For his part, Usman mostly appeared to be trying to calm his colleagues while engaging with Covington, who later called someone on his mobile phone to tell them about the incident.
It's the latest unsavory incident involving Covington, who hit the headlines back in November 2017 when, after an altercation on the street in Sydney, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum threw a boomerang at the trash-talking American.
Plans are in motion to book Usman and Covington in a title unification bout later this year, and Covington said he'd love to return to Vegas to face Usman for the title at UFC 239 in International Fight Week on July 6.
