There seems to be a disconnect between Colby
Covington and Khamzat
Chimaev regarding a rumored fight between the two that never
came to fruition.
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Covington was in attendance at UFC 286, and his visit with media
included a brief rant on Chimaev. The former interim welteweight
champion criticized Chimaev for missing weight ahead of a scheduled
fight with Nate Diaz at
UFC 279 last year. That mishap eventually led to the card being
reshuffled, and Chimaev ultimately submitted Kevin
Holland in the opening stanza of a 180-pound catchweight
bout.
“He’s been saying I want for the title at 170, I want to fight
Colby, this and that. The guy quit to the common cold. The guy quit
on a weight cut when he had the best professionals that the UFC PI
could offer,” Covington told assembled media. “Millions of dollars
put into this guy in marketing and he had the easiest fight in the
division, the soy boy Nate Diaz, and
he still couldn’t make weight. He missed weight by nine pounds and
he’s laughing it off like it’s a f——ing joke.
“He’s a f—-ing joke. The guy f—-ing sucks at fighting, he’s
unprofessional and I don’t want to ever that guy’s name again. You
guys hype him up to be this great giant, and the guy couldn’t hold
my f—-ng jockstrap.”
In recent months, UFC president Dana White claimed that he hoped to
book Chimaev vs. Covington. His tune changed following UFC 286,
when he announced that Covington is next in line to face Leon
Edwards for the welterweight crown. Chimaev, meanwhile, is
expected to fight at 185 pounds going forward.
“Yeah, he’ll fight at middleweight,” White said at the UFC 286
post-fight press conference. “…He’s in a position where he should
be fighting Top 3 guys in the world [at 185 pounds].”
Despite seemingly being on divergent paths, Chimaev couldn’t help
but respond to Covington’s remarks on his YouTube channel.
“Colby’s lying, he doesn’t want to fight,” Chimaev said. “I swear
with everything I have. I swear with God, I accept the fight four
times and all Muslims understand I swear with the Koran. I get a
call four times ‘do you want to fight?’ I said yes. I had a
conversation with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby as well, I can show
it, [that] we’re going to fight with this guy and it never
happened. There is no more.
“You can lie at press conferences and they make it a show. For me,
I can’t lie to people. I am who I am, they like it, they don’t like
it, I am who I am. That guy plays too much.”
Chimaev also referenced a brief encounter with Covington while both
fighters were at the UFC Performance Institute.
“When I see him in the PI, when I see [him], he sees me, he turns
around,” Chimaev said. “He ran somewhere I didn’t see him
anymore.”
With Chimaev’s future seemingly at 185 pounds, he encouraged
Covington to move up in weight so they can settle their
differences. That, of course, is unlikely with a third title shot
awaiting the outspoken American.
“If he wants to fight, just come up like me. Try to come up.
Everyone’s talking about that, he doesn’t want to fight him — I
fight everybody,” Chimaev said. “If he wants to fight, fight. For
me, weight class doesn’t matter. If somebody wants the fight — if
UFC calls me to fight Brock
Lesnar, I’ll fight with him. For me it doesn’t matter, fight
everybody, whichever weight class the UFC wants, I’ll fight. I
never choose my fights.
“These chickens they lie so much. So many guys speak on the
internet ‘I want to fight Khamzat,’ but why am I standing here with
no fights for half a year or more now.”