The wheels have been turning in the recent Ian Machado Garry and Colby Covington rivalry.
It looks like Covington’s stipulations won’t be met, after all. “Chaos” did his best to goad Garry into a bout that he “didn’t need” with several jabs at his personal life, including the three stipulations Garry “had” to meet in the timeframe given.
Garry’s social pages indicate he didn’t concede to Covington, but is still on track to fight the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight champion regardless.
“What’s up, everyone? It’s Tuesday the ninth of April at [1:10 P.M. EST],” Garry said in an Instagram video. “I just want to let everyone know, I have agreed to fight Colby Covington. There is a date in place — Colby still hasn’t signed the contract.”
Garry and Covington have had significantly different fight results in their recent stretches. Ireland’s No. 7-ranked Garry is a perfect 14-0 in his career while Covington is 2-3 in his last five outings (17-4 overall). The 26-year-old Garry last earned a split decision over Geoff Neal at UFC 298 earlier this year (Feb. 17, 2024) after Covington lost a lopsided unanimous decision (watch highlights) to the champion, Leon Edwards, in UFC 296’s main event this past December 2023.
Covington isn’t the first to make personal insults towards Garry. He is, however, in the same weight class, and close in ranking, which makes the fight all the more logical.
“I want to fight him because of the following he has, the respect on his name as one of the better fighters in this division and has been for a long time,” Garry said. “I want to fight him because of all the s—t that he has talked about me and my family, and I’m going to make sure that he regrets every word he’s said. But I also know that even if it was the best Colby Covington we ever seen, he would never stand a chance against me. No matter how good Colby Covington ever could be or would be, he would never be able to beat me. I’m too elite. I’m too fast. I’m too technically brilliant. He just doesn’t stand a chance.”