Colby Covington is maintaining animosity towards Khamzat Chimaev even after leaving the welterweight division. With ‘Borz’ seemingly poised as the next middleweight title contender, ‘Chaos’ is placing all his bets on the current champion Dricus Du Plessis to defend his belt.
As long as Khamzat Chimaev remained a welterweight, his fight against Covington was a tantalizing fantasy for all UFC enthusiasts around the world. Despite the former welterweight title challenger’s efforts to elicit some response from the promotion, this highly anticipated bout never materialized.
Covington still entertains the possibility that one day he might get the chance to face the opponent he once intended to face. So, he never misses any opportunity to lambast Khamzat Chimaev. Even before ‘Borz’s next fight, which is likely to be for the middleweight gold, Covington is fragrantly predicting the current champion Dricus Du Plessis to defend his belt.
‘Chaos’ on Tim Welch’s podcast, said, “I think DDP gets it done! I think his unorthodox style will surprise him. And hopefully, he’s strong enough to fend off the takedowns and Khamzat has never been in a five-round fight. So I think, Khamzat gets beaten up.”
“I think DDP is strong enough to fend off the takedowns, but he has good jiu-jitsu. So, he keeps his chin tucked, gets back to his feet and then c***** is going to be tired. C***** gassed in the Gilbert Burns fight and you know, that was only three rounds. An extra two-rounds in the championship rounds, I think DDP gets C**** out of there.”
MMA: UFC Fight Night – Tampa: Covington vs Buckley Dec 14, 2024 Tampa, Florida, UNITED STATES Colby Covington red gloves reacts after the fight against Joaquin Buckley blue gloves at Amalie Arena. Tampa Amalie Arena Florida UNITED STATES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xNathanxRayxSeebeckx 20241215_szo_fo8_0607
Despite Covington’s hostility, it’s fair to say that Dricus Du Plessis is indeed the toughest challenge of his career. While we must appreciate that Chimaev completely dismantled former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker after a considerably lengthy absence from the sport, we must also consider that DDP has also displayed significant improvement in his last few high-profile championship bouts.
Listening to Colby Covington talk, it may appear like that he is inches away from getting a title shot, but in reality, his career is facing a major downfall. Since his victory against friend-turned-rival Jorge Masvidal in 2022, he has faced two consecutive defeats, that too with a year gap in between. After he got destroyed by Joaquin Buckley, we thought Covington would be well off perusing Poker, however, he thinks there’s still some fight left in him.
Colby Covington is looking for a ‘big fight’ as he prepares for his return to the UFC
The former welterweight title challenger is not finished competing inside the Octagon. Despite being on a two-fight losing streak, one of which was against a rising contender, Colby is still seeking a bigger name for his next fight. He is aiming for a matchup against a former champion that could enhance his legacy in the sport.
The 37-year-old, revealed in the same interview with Tim Welsch, “Anybody that has a big name, big fights, biggest and the best fights that I can get done for the UFC. That’s what I want to do you know. We gotta see how things are going you know, there are a couple of people that have been running my name through their mouth, they can get their mouth shut for sure, but I gotta see what the UFC wants to do. And I want legacy fights, big fights, former champions, big high-level fights. Not guys that are just coming up trying to build their name.”
Colby Covington’s intentions for his next fight are quite clear. He is looking to compete against someone from the middleweight division who meets his criteria. He has already hinted at moving up, and it seems likely that we could see a matchup between him and Sean Strickland only if circumstances allow.
They both tried for a long time to get under each other’s skin, but unfortunately, the UFC never promoted a fight between them. Hopefully, Colby will decide to move up in weight class, and we can finally witness an entertaining press conference and a long-awaited grudge match!
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