Colby Covington is still dead set on fighting UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. However, Covington hopes the fight can be scheduled for UFC 290, which is taking place during International Fight week and featuring a rumored main event of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
The UFC president Dana White has gone on record to say that Covington is next in line for a title shot due to ‘Chaos’ weighing in as a backup for UFC 286’s main event. UFC 286’s main event featured a banger between Leon Edwards and former champion Kamaru Usman, but after Edwards’ victory over Usman, the champion has different ideas about who he’d like to defend the title against.
Due to trash talk over the years about one another, Colby Covington believes he and Edwards on the same card with Jones, and Miocic just makes business sense. ‘Chaos’ is certain a press conference featuring him and Jon Jones on the same stage would give fans entertainment to recap for years to come.
Colby Covington hopes for Leon Edwards fight to come to fruition at UFC 290 during International Fight Week
Currently 3-2 in his last five fights, Covington has not yet made an appearance in 2023. His last fight was a victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272, which ended via decision. Since then, Leon Edwards believes Colby Covington has done much more talking than fighting, which is why ‘Rocky’ would instead prefer to settle his beef with Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal and Edwards many years ago now had a famous altercation backstage at a UFC event which entailed ‘Gamebred’ walking up to Edwards and hitting him with what would be eventually dubbed: “the three-piece and a soda”. Edwards was left bloodied and angry, Masvidal was thrown into the spotlight due to this incident, and things never quite got settled. Fans were left on the cliffhanger of how this vicious event would be handled, and it’s now been years and years with no conclusion.
However, Colby Covington is still dead set on fighting ‘Rocky’ as promised by the UFC, and has gone on to tell MMA Fighting: “The UFC knows I’m cool with whatever — co-headliner, main-event, whatever they want me to do.”
“I’m the ultimate businessman,” Covington continued (H/T MMA Fighting). “I show up, I make weight, I don’t miss weight by nine pounds like that dog-faced gremlin [Khamzat Chimaev]. I make my weight, championship weight on literally a day’s notice [and] cut 18 pounds, no excuses.”
“I’ll be ready. If they want me to co-main event [UFC 290], I’ll co-main event International Fight Week. Whatever they want. If they want June, August, May, April, whatever the UFC wants. I’ll leave that up to the big bosses because they decide.”
“No one else decides,” Colby Covington continued. “Not Leon, not these groupie journalists, these fanboys that are crying, which by the way, it’s absolutely hilarious. If you’re asking me how I’m doing, I’m doing great because all of my haters are miserable right now.”
Colby Covington continues to sound off
Angry due to Edwards not committing to a fight with him, Covington continued to emphasize the fact that he stays ready at the drop of a hat. According to ‘Chaos’, any fight, any PPV would work quite fine with him.
“It’s what I’m preparing for, but everybody knows by now that I stay ready on a moment’s notice,” Covington declared. “It could be in Miami — I hope the main event [for UFC 287] falls through, I’ll [headline that] pay-per-view. I am the king of Miami so I do need to show up.“
“But I stay ready, I was ready to fight [at UFC 286] on a moment’s notice, either guy — it didn’t matter because I know I’m the best in the world so I could fight either style. It doesn’t matter, I’ll be ready whenever.”
So, there you have it. The world is left with an angry Covington, and Leon Edwards who has earned his right to call on his next competitor. Things may stand unresolved for now, but one thing that’s for certain is that ‘Chaos’ seems fired up and ready to go at a moments notice.
Who do you think Edwards defends his belt against next?