Michael Chandler has nothing positive to say about Colby Covington’s third bid at undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight gold.
The former three-time Bellator Lightweight titleholder and Covington have crossed paths briefly in the past, sharing similar political beliefs and even appearing on the same broadcasts together. However, Covington was less friendly than his counterpart in those interactions, as one would expect.
Unfortunately for “Chaos,” he was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision loss to the Welterweight kingpin, Leon Edwards, at UFC 296 this past weekend (Dec. 16, 2023). His uncharacteristic approach to the match up led to a one-sided downfall and one that many, including Chandler, found unimpressive, to say the least.
“I said after three rounds, Colby has taken 1776 shots to the face and had zero offense,” Chandler told Inside Fighting (h/t MMA Junkie). “If Colby’s offense was an accurate depiction of the U.S. military, we would have never gotten our independence, lost World War I and lost World War II. 100 percent [he let down Donald Trump]. It was worse than weak. It’s actually only because Colby made such a big deal about it.
“Not now, not after that performance,” he responded when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Covington. “Colby should be fighting on the prelims. That’s my opinion.”
Historically a Lightweight throughout his 31-fight career (23-8), Chandler, made his professional debut at 170 pounds before dropping south and finding a home at 155 pounds. His impending return has been rumored to potentially come back at Welterweight, as “Iron” continues to hold out hope for his promised match up against Conor McGregor.
Meanwhile, Covington will go back to the drawing board after dropping losses in three of his last five bouts.