Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is working hard to book two-time title challenger Colby Covington against undefeated welterweight sensation Khamzat Chimaev for an upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) card in March (more on those plans here).
That’s because the promotion is expected to approve immediate rematches for both the welterweight and middleweight titles following upsets from Leon Edwards and Alex Pereira, respectively, leaving the multi-weight “Borz” with no claim to either strap.
Fellow welterweight title contender Stephen Thompson is siding with “Chaos.”
“I’m not really sure if that will happen. I don’t think Colby wants it, obviously, and especially against a guy that hasn’t made weight. So, I don’t blame him,” Thompson told Submission Radio. “If it does happen, I think if it goes five-five, I think Colby’s got it if it goes in the later rounds. Just because he’s got cardio for days. And we saw the fight with Chimaev and Gilbert Burns, and Chimaev started to fatigue. And I don’t know if that’s because he did make weight, right? And he was depleted? Cause he killed himself to get down to 170. Will he be able to do it again? I don’t know. If he doesn’t make weight, I wouldn’t fight him. I would say no. But if it does [happen], if Chimaev wins, it’s gonna have to be early on in the rounds. But if it goes all five, definitely Colby. He’s got cardio for days, and Chimaev is just a big 170-er man. He shouldn’t even be a 170, he should be up at 185.”
Chimaev unapologetically missed weight for his most recent UFC main event.
Chimaev (12-0) is currently ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds, one spot below Covington (17-3). “Borz” opened as the odds-on betting favorite for their potential showdown, even with some UFC insiders calling this Chimaev’s “most difficult matchup” to date.
As for Thompson (16-6-1), he’s unlikely to accept a Chimaev fight based on this approach to matchmaking and will try to prove he’s still a relevant contender when he battles welterweight motormouth Kevin Holland at UFC Orlando this weekend on ESPN and ESPN+.