A match between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev was the biggest 170-pound scrap to never materialize. Now, “Chaos” has some choice words for “Borz,” who’s left for Middleweight.
Colby Covington made a pretty triumphant return to the public eye this weekend in London, England.
First, he surprised almost everyone by showing up on the scales as the backup fighter for UFC 286’s Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3 title fight. Then, he was featured multiple times on the ESPN+streamed pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast at cageside, where he yelled insults and re-established himself as the villain of the Welterweight division. And then following the event, UFC President, Dana White, capped off Covington’s night by declaring him next in line to fight Edwards for the 170-pound title.
Not bad for a guy who hasn’t made a peep since getting assaulted by Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami Beach, Fla., steakhouse one year ago … almost to the day.
That assault took Covington out of action, and “Chaos” has claimed in court documents that he suffered a brain injury from the incident. That, in turn, probably derailed one of the biggest fights UFC could make: Colby Covington vs. Khamzat Chimaev.
During an interview with mixed martial arts (MMA) media assembled in the bowels of The O2, Covington dismissed Khamzat as unprofessional. Then, he really unloaded on “Borz.”
“I was referring to that dog-faced motherf—ker [Khamzat],” Colby said. “He talks all this s—, dude. He said all these things about me in the media. Yeah, of course they’re going to say things in the media, they don’t say things to my face or in the octagon. He’s been saying, ‘Oh, I want to fight for the title at 170, I want to fight Colby,’ this and that. Dude, the guy quit to the common cold. The guy quit on a weight cut when he had the best professionals that the UFC [Performance Institute] can offer.
“Millions of dollars put into this guy in marketing, and this guy had the easiest fight in the division, the soy boy Nate Diaz,” Covington continued. “And he still couldn’t make weight. He missed weight by nine pounds and he’s laughing it off like this is a f—ing joke. He’s a f—ing joke, the guy sucks at fighting, he’s unprofessional, and I don’t ever want to hear that guy’s name again. You guys hype him up to be this giant, the guy couldn’t hold my jockstrap.”
Asked whether he’d been offered a fight against Chimaev, Covington got pretty specific with his wording.
Colby Covington just went scorched earth on Khamzat Chimaevpic.twitter.com/qR9B07rzQy
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 18, 2023
“It was never formally presented to me,” he said. “We talked about it. It was the fight that I wanted, I wanted to derail that hype train. Everyone was building him up to be colossal like he was some great fighter. I saw the quitter in him from the start, I knew he had no cardio, I knew I would expose his gas tank and make him break inside five rounds. The guy quit in three rounds. What’s he gonna do when he gets pornstar cardio and the Cardio King for five rounds?
“I was begging to fight, I was champing at the bit, but we saw how unprofessional he was,” Covington concluded. “They gave him the easiest fight, Nate Diaz, to set it up to fight me the next fight to build it up and make it a spectacle. And he couldn’t do it! He was out there laughing, missing weight by nine pounds when he had the best professionals in the world at the UFC PI.
“So … the guy’s a clown — I don’t ever want to hear that guy’s name in this division again,” Covington concluded. “Let that dog-faced motherf—er rot at 185.”
Earlier during fight week, White declared that Chimaev is now a Middleweight fighter, who is ready to compete with the Top 5 in the division despite never defeating a Top 10-ranked fighter … ever. The undefeated Chechen will likely return to action at UFC 294 on Oct. 24, 2023, when the promotion returns to “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi later this year.
If not sooner.
For complete UFC 286: “Edwards vs. Usman” results and play-by-play, click HERE.