Kamaru Usman broke his hand training with Justin Gaethje before UFC 268

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Kamaru Usman reveals he broke his hand before his fight against Colby Covington

The UFC welterweight champion put on an amazing performance against Colby Covington at the UFC 268. However, the road to the fight night was not an easy one for the current pound-for-pound king. Kamaru Usman recently revealed that three weeks before his highly anticipated rematch against Covington, he broke his right hand.

Colby Covington vs Kamaru Usman 2
Colby Covington vs Kamaru Usman 2 (Bloody Elbow)

Usman was recently on the Full Send Podcast and talked about how he faced adversity leading up to the fight.

“I broke it before the fight. Most people don’t know that. I broke it three weeks before and I didn’t throw it a day until the fight itself. I didn’t throw it right until backstage. Didn’t throw my hands for three weeks, my right hand.”

Usman later revealed how his hand was broken and surprisingly, Justin Gaethje had a little role to play in the situation. The UFC welterweight champion said:

“I broke it on someone’s head, Justin Gaethje’s head. We spar together, same coach, main training partners-slash-big brother, little brother-slash-two assassins in the same place. He gets the better of me sometimes, Justin Gaethje is a savage.”

As revealed by Usman, he broke his hand while sparring with Gaethje. Usman’s efforts are really commendable as he put on a dominating performance even after being injured for so long.

Why did Kamaru Usman hide the news of his injury?

After suffering a broken hand just three weeks before the fight, Usman could’ve made the decision of making the news of his injury public. But being the true champion he is, the pound-for-pound king chose to not do that.

Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington 2
Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington 2 was an all-out war (UFC)

The reason for the same being that if Usman would have informed about his broken hand prior to the fight, the UFC would’ve called off the fight. So Usman decided to fight through his injury and not make it known until known.

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