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<\/p>\nUFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman spoke to \u2018The Underground\u2019 and had some interesting things about his long-time rival. According to Usman, Colby Covington\u2019s days of contention are behind him, and he will be serving the welterweight division in the capacity of a gatekeeper.<\/p>\n
The term gatekeeper is explicitly used for those fighters who are good enough to ward off emerging contenders but have been unable to lift the ultimate prize of a UFC championship.<\/p>\n
Usman cited the emergence of several new contenders like Belal Muhammad and Khamzat Chimaev who are the new school of contenders, hungry for their shot at gold, for the reason for Covington’s gatekeeper status.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere are a lot of guys in that top of the division. You\u2019ve got Belal Muhammad is there. You\u2019ve got (Khamzat) Chimaev is there. You\u2019ve got Covington is still there, holding that door strong. At this point, Covington is standing right in front of that door. For it to really make sense, for anyone to really get through, they need to go through him because he\u2019s proven he can beat everybody else but he can\u2019t just beat me.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFor you to prove that you can fight for the title, I think you need to go through that guy. At the end of the day, I\u2019m going to keep running through these guys until I\u2019m bored. Whoever is next is next.\u201d [h\/t mmajunkie.com<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n