UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington is ranked No. 2 at 170 pounds, with Leon Edwards (No. 3) and Jorge Masvidal (No. 4) right behind him. That would make him a prime candidate for either fighter, which may explain why promotion president Dana White was trying to book Covington vs. Edwards after Khamzat Chimaev was shelved indefinitely.
I guess “Chaos” didn’t get the memo.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Covington told Submission Radio. “That’s just him talking. I’m not doing charity business no more. It’s not my fault [Edwards] hasn’t fought in two years. There’s people from England fighting all the time in the pandemic, they’re not scared to fight. So, I’m not doing charity for this guy who hasn’t fought in two years. He’s irrelevant, he’s beat a bunch of bums, and I’m not doing charity.”
It was thought that Covington would instead fight Masvidal, based on their history, but “Chaos” claims his former bestie turned down the chance to coach the new season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), which included a pay-per-view (PPV) headliner at some point in June.
“After I fought Woodley, Dana White, Hunter Campbell called me, they wanted to get the fight done in December or January,” Covington said. “I was on board, I agreed, I put the pen to paper. But Jorge Masvidal was nowhere to be found. He was hiding. And then after he turned down January, they were like, ‘okay, well let’s do the Ultimate Fighter. You know, we can start taping in May, you guys fight as the pay-per-view main event at the end of it in June.’ And it would have been perfect because I am Jorge Masvidal’s father and I know Father’s Day is in June, so it would have been a two-for-one special. I would have beat his ass, spanked my little son and I would have got a happy Father’s Day.”
With Edwards and Masvidal off the table, Covington (16-2) is hoping to land a rematch against current champion Kamaru Usman. “Chaos” was stopped by “The Nigerian Nightmare” when they first went to war back at UFC 245 in late 2019.
“I would say, who’s fighting Marty Fakenewsman,” Covington asked. “You’re gonna give ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal, the same guy that you were talking on the phone with me and saying he’s the hardest guy in the world to deal with, he’s the next Diaz, he only wants to fight once every two or three years, you’re gonna reward that guy? He hasn’t fought since that fight, a year. And that fight goes the same way every single time. You want to do that same exact outcome again? For what? What’s the point? Six days, six months, six years, that fight’s the same every single time. The people want to see one fight, they want to see the rematch, Marty Fakenewsman, Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington part two.”
Sounds like UFC has other plans.