Kamaru Usman had a powerful response to the ‘USA’ chants after beating Colby Covington

“I’m more American than him. I am what it means to be an American.”

Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian-American who moved to the U.S. when he was an 8-year-old. He’s lived in the U.S. for 24 years, but during Saturday’s UFC 245, “USA” chants appeared to be shouted in support of Colby Covington — an unapologetic Trump-supporting fighter from California.

Well, after Usman’s TKO victory over Covington, Usman was asked about the “USA” chants that echoed around T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The chants seemed to be used as a xenophobic taunt by Covington fans.

Without hesitation, though, Usman said during his post-fight press conference that the “USA” chants were for him and that he was more American than Covington — who arrived to the fight in MAGA gear — would ever be.

He said:

“What you talking about? They were chanting USA for me. Let’s be honest. I’ve said it time and time again: I’m more American than him. I am what it means to be an American. I’m an immigrant that come here and work my ass off tirelessly to get to the top, and I’m still prevailing. And so that’s what it means to be an American. It’s not necessarily just because you’re born here, you feel privileged is what it means to be an American. No. I told you none of these guys work harder than me. That’s what it means to be an American. I work my ass off, and I’m going to continue to work my ass off and obviously with good integrity.

“I don’t have to walk around like a punk, and say these certain things that are going to abuse the whole country or abuse the whole world and talk about people and religions — things like that. I don’t have to. I’m going to walk with integrity because at the end of the day, I want everyone that’s watching me, every eye that’s on me, to look at me and say, ‘You know what, that’s what we want to be, that’s the example that we like.’ And so, I’m more American than him. So, when they were chanting ‘USA,’ you damn sure better believe that was because of me.”

With the win, Usman improved to 16-1 and defended his welterweight championship belt. Covington, on the other hand, suffered a broken jaw during the fight and complained about the referee on Twitter after leaving the octagon early.

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