Colby Covington has been missing from the octagon since March 2022. His last bout was against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 which led to a decision win for Covington. Days after their bout, Masvidal got accused of attacking the 35-year-old fighter in Miami Beach. Since then Covington has kept himself away from fights due to sustained injuries and remained on break.
But the reason for his absence from the octagon was not an injury but instead, it was a different thing altogether. During a recent interview while speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, Covington revealed how he wanted to fight right after defeating Masvidal.
However, the 35-year-old fighter then expressed that the reason for his absence was the fighters. He shared that other fighters did not agree to take up a fight against him. He went on to speak further and targeted Khamzat Chimaev.
Covington expressed that UFC was planning to set up a fight between Covington and Chimaev but it didn’t materialize. He said,
“They (Campbell and White) were looking at setting up that fight with that mother****, Khamzat Chimaev but he’s unprofessional. He’s a clown. He’s out there laughing when he’s missing weight by 10 pounds, making a fool of this publicly traded, beautiful company of the UFC, making a fool.”
He blasted ‘Borz’ for missing weight and how his unprofessional behaviour affected Covington and was disrespectful to the UFC. Chimaev went on to fight in the middleweight division, where he recently defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.
Nevertheless, the former interim UFC welterweight champion now has a big fight coming up for him which is just days away.
Colby Covington fights for the title at UFC 296
Covington has been inactive for more than a year but the trash-talker is now all set for a big title fight. Leon Edwards who is the current UFC welterweight champion will be fighting Covington who is #3 in the welterweight rankings.
Covington vs. Edwards is UFC’s closing event for this year. It is taking place on December 16, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, United States.
Covington has previously stated that he would be interested to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev if he wins the title at UFC 296. Leon Edwards on the other hand wants to become a double champion by facing the winner of Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis.
It will be interesting to see who takes home the title and stands tall as the 170-pound titleholder.
