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Colby Covington blasts UFC rival Ian Garry, wife, offers to fight him next: ‘I’d be honored to settle that’

Again turning his attention to welterweight contender, Ian Garry and his wife and manager, Layla Anna-Lee – outspoken former…

Again turning his attention to welterweight contender, Ian Garry and his wife and manager, Layla Anna-Lee – outspoken former interim champion, Colby Covington has offered to “settle” the pair’s rivalry next, in the form of a rumored fight between the two.

Covington, the current number five ranked welterweight contender, headlined UFC 296 earlier this month against undisputed champion, Leon Edwards, suffering a one-sided unanimous decision loss to the Birmingham native in his third attempt to strike undisputed gold.

As for Garry, the unbeaten Dubliner was scheduled to make his return on that same flagship card, until a battle with pneumonia during fight week forced him to withdraw from a set fight with Vicente Luque.

Questioning the status of Portmarnock native, Garry’s relationship with Anna-Lee – Covington alluded to apparent infidelity from the latter, questioning media and fans attending a fight week press conference if they had engaged in sexual intercourse with Garry’s spouse.

Colby Covington takes aim at Ian Garry and his wife

And continuing his tirade aimed at the Dublin-born striker in the aftermath of his loss to Edwards, Covington labelled 26-year-old a cuckold, before offering to fight him inside the Octagon next.

“There is one guy that is a legitimate cuck and I’ve called him out for that,” Colby Covington said of Ian Garry during a recent interview with Tucker Carlson. “I found out that this had happened, the girls as selling a book called ‘WAG’ – which means ‘wifes and girlfriends’. So, she was promoting that she had a boyfriend and she had a husband. It shouldn’t be allowed, it’s pretty nasty behaviour.”

Ep 57. Imagine any other sports league employing a guy like Colby Covington. Impossible.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Why does Rosie O’Donnell hate Colby?
(12:25) Trump’s chances in 2024
(15:37) The art of talking trash
(23:10) Becoming a fighter pic.twitter.com/fgK5hX852z

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 27, 2023

“He was pretty angry,” Colby Covington explained. “I think he probably wants to settle the differences in the Octagon, and it just so happens, I like to fight in the Octagon,” Colby Covington explained. “So, if it needs to happen one day, I’d be honored to settle that.” (H/T MMA News)

Slated to make his respective return to the Octagon at UFC 298 in February of next year in Anaheim, California, Garry takes on Geoff Neal in a rescheduled bout – and recently claimed that hateful comments and slander he was receiving online was simply not real.

Who wins in a future fight: Colby Covington or Ian Garry?

Leon Edwards – Shavkat Rakhmonov opens as pick ’em fight amid links to massive UFC title showdown

Both turning in impressive performance en route to respective victories at UFC 296 earlier this month, markets are currently…

Both turning in impressive performance en route to respective victories at UFC 296 earlier this month, markets are currently even as pick ‘em between undisputed welterweight champion, Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov, amid continued links to a massive title fight between the duo next year.

Edwards, the current undisputed welterweight champion, headlined UFC 296 earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, successfully defending his divisional crown with a comfortable and comprehensive unanimous decision win over former interim champion, Colby Covington.

Earlier on the main card of the same flagship event, unbeaten finisher, Rakhmonov improved to 18-0 as a professional, registeringh is staggering eighteenth straight career finish with a dominant second round rear-naked choke win over veteran former two-time title chaser, Stephen Thompson.

Leon Edwards – Shavkat Rakhmonov opens as pick ’em fight

And amid links to what would come as a blockbuster championship fight next year, Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov are currently sitting at -110 for a title pairing, with markets listing the duo as a pick ‘em fight at the time of publication.

Fans hopeful of landing action on a fight between Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov early before a potential fight next year, can place bets on markets including bizzo casino – with many markets and bookies taking bets on the pairing already, including outright winning wagers as a well as a host of prop bets.

Successfully defending his welterweight crown for the second time since his reign began back in August of last year, back in March, Birmingham technician, Leon Edwards landed a close, majority decision win over former pound-for-pound great, Kamaru Usman.

And with his title fight victory against Covington at UFC 296, the Team Renegade BJJ & MMA staple was linked with a title fight rematch against the surging, Belal Muhamamd – who is fresh from a May victory against Gilbert Burns.

However, according to Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, a potential fight with Brazilian former title chaser, Burns would be his next chosen fight – rather than a rematch with Muhammad, to many’s questioning.

“If I had a choice who would be next, I would prefer (Gilbert) Burns over Belal (Muhamamd), because I think Burns brings more to the table than Belal,” Dave Lovell said. “Because Leon’s beaten him [Muhammad] – well, I shouldn’t say that, he had the no-constest against Belal. It looked like, you can’t judge it by the first round totally, but it looked like Leon obviously had the first round locked down with Belal and he was going in for the kill [up tunil] the second until the eye poke occurred.”

“But yeah, if I had a choice, overall, I would like Burns, but we’ll take whoever they [the UFC] throw at us,” Lovell finished.

Touted to challenge for welterweight gold next year – if not win the championship outright, Uzbekistan contender, Rakhmonov landed his second straight submission victory this year with his stoppage of Thompson – adding to a highlight-reel third round standing rear-naked choke win over Geoff Neal back in March.

And with his stoppage win earlier this month, Rakhmonov earned himself the number three rank in the official welterweight rankings.

Who wins in a future title pairing: Leon Edwards or Shavkat Rakhmonov?

Bo Nickal Believes Khamzat Chimaev would ‘Beat Up’ Leon Edwards in potential title tilt, talks ‘Rocky’ vs. Makhachev

Bo Nickal believes reigning welterweight world champion Leon Edwards would get pummeled by Khamzat Chimaev but expects a potential…

Bo Nickal believes reigning welterweight world champion Leon Edwards would get pummeled by Khamzat Chimaev but expects a potential clash between ‘Rocky’ and Islam Makhachev to be fairly competitive.

Edwards is coming off a solid five-round performance against Colby Covington at UFC 296 to retain his title. Next on the docket for ‘Rocky’ should be a rematch with No. 2 ranked contender Belal Muhammad, but it seems like everyone outside of the welterweight division is chomping at the bit to get their hands on Edwards.

Immediately following the final fight of 2023, Islam Makhachev called for a clash with Leon Edwards in 2024, claiming he could finish both Edwards and Covington.

Khamzat Chimaev has also suggested moving back down to 170 in hopes of claiming his first world title at the expense of Edwards

Rising middleweight prospect Bo Nickal believes a fight between Edwards and Makhachev could be fairly competitive. However, the former three-time NCAA Division I National Champion suggested that ‘Rocky’ would get thoroughly manhandled by the undefeated Chechen monster.

“I think there are guys that are going to be able to give him some resistance and stuff,” Nickal said of Edwards on his YouTube channel. “If Khamzat [Chimaev] goes back down, that’s a freaking tough fight for him. Islam would be a tough fight for him, as well, but I think that’s really competitive.

“I feel like Khamzat comes down, he would probably beat him up. But Islam coming up, even though he’s a big 55’er, Leon’s big. Leon can freaking strike. Colby was able to hold him down a good amount, so who knows? And Leon’s smart, he keeps his cool so, I don’t know” (h/t The News & Observer).

The Impressive Win Streaks of Edwards, Chimaev, and Makhachev

Khamzat Chimaev kicked off his UFC career scoring three finishes in eight weeks. Since then, his pace has slowed, though his success inside the Octagon has been nonetheless impressive. Chimaev has earned victories over Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, and former welterweight world champion Kamaru Usman in his last three appearances.

Chimaev is currently rumored to be in talks for a fight with two-time middleweight champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 300 in April, though no official announcements have been made.

As for Islman Makhachev, the reigning lightweight king is coming off an impressive first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294. ‘The Great’ stepped in on 11 days’ notice to run back their instant classic from February and ultimately paid the price, suffering a vicious head-kick KO.

“And Islam, he’s not 100 percent grappler,” Nickal continued. “He tries to strike a lot with all the guys he’s fought pretty much.”

Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev are both on a 13-fight win streak while Leon Edwards has bested his last 12 opponents in a row.

Gilbert Burns reveals Sean Strickland’s attack on Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 296 was premeditated

Sean Strickland knew from the moment he stepped into the arena that sh*t was going to go down at…

Sean Strickland knew from the moment he stepped into the arena that sh*t was going to go down at UFC 296.

24 hours following a nasty verbal confrontation between the UFC middleweight champion and his first title challenger, Dricus Du Plessis, the two outspoken standouts engaged in an all-out brawl in the stands at T-Mobile Arena during the promotion’s final pay-per-view event of the year.

Videos of the incident immediately flooded social media and many fight fans were a little skeptical, suggesting that the UFC took a page out of the WWE’s book and staged the incident to help promote January’s first big headliner.

Appearing on the JAXXON podcast, Gilbert Burns, whose family had a front-row seat for the incident, revealed that not only was the brawl real but that Sean Strickland had walked into the building determined to throw hands with ‘Stillknocks’ that night.

“That was my wife and kid,” Burns explained, referring to the people Strickland waved aside before lunging at Du Plessis. “And then when Sean came, he came and then he kind of looked at the guy. I think he’s already like ‘Man sh*t. You brought your wife and your kids,’ and I say yes. And he said, ‘Yeah this fricking guy is right there. I might do stuff with this guy.’

“That was before the fight! When he walked in, he already had the thing in his head. [Strickland said] If I do something, I’ll give you the heads up. Whenever the things start going down, this guy [Strickland] kind of look at me and said, ‘Now!’”

Dana White takes Responsibility for Strickland’s attack on Du Plessis

Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis are scheduled to scrap on January 20 when the promotion returns to PPV for UFC 297. Had either man sustained an injury in the scuffle, those plans could have been put in serious jeopardy. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but UFC CEO Dana White was willing to take full responsibility for being the “a**hole” that sat the two middleweight stars so close together.

Dana White: What kind of an asshole seats Strickland next to Du Plessis? This asshole.#UFC296 #UFC pic.twitter.com/KMnTaqNg2f

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) December 17, 2023

“They hit each other a little bit,” Burns added. “People didn’t see that side of the camera. We saw because it was right there. There was kind of a little bit back-and-forth, but it was nothing clean. And then Dana came after the fight, like what happened, did anyone get hurt, anyone need anything? No, nothing happened to anyone. Even those guys, they fought each other” (h/t MMA Mania).

Chael Sonnen scoffs at Strickland – du Plessis ‘Illegally fighting’ in crowd at UFC 296: ‘I don’t like that stuff’

Veteran former title challenger, Chael Sonnen has lambasted both Sean Strickland and incoming championship chaser, Dricus du Plessis for…

Veteran former title challenger, Chael Sonnen has lambasted both Sean Strickland and incoming championship chaser, Dricus du Plessis for brawling in the crowd on fighter row at UFC 296 earlier this month, claiming the pair’s coming together physically had nothing to do with fight promotion.

Chael Sonnen unhappy with Strickland – du Plessis melee at UFC 296

Sonnen, a former undisputed light heavyweight and middleweight title challenger under the banner of the UFC, turned analyst, claimed that while he was not a “prude” – he was not a fan of last weekend’s scuffle between Strickland and du Plessis, which resulted in the defending middleweight champion’s exit from the T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s not as though there wasn’t repercussions – (Sean) Strickland got thrown out,” Chael Sonnen told MMA Fighting. “That’s how security handles these things. There always becomes a question of what level of authority needs to do it, and there seems to be this idea that it needs to be the sport, or the governing body. That gets a little bit strange for me.”

“It’s not as thought that wasn’t dealt with,” Sonnen explained. “But no, I don’t like that stuff. I’m not a prude about it, but that isn’t fight promotion – that’s fighting, and that isn’t sanctioned fighting. That’s illegal fighting. I’m not a prude, but I don’t like when the punches get thrown. You’ve got to be able to have these back and forths, and you get to have a level of honor, and no, I didn’t like that.”

Sharing their respective thoughts on the brawl between fellow middleweights, former champion, Israel Adesanya claimed he was all there for their melee on fighter row, while fan-favorite striker, Robert Whittaker claimed that he believed something appeared fishy about the engagement, speculating that it was pre-planned before UFC 296.

Tony Ferguson again urged to end UFC run by veteran star: ‘He’s 0-7, you need to be done, buddy’

Former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson has once again been urged to call time on his storied mixed martial…

Former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson has once again been urged to call time on his storied mixed martial arts career, this time by UFC alum, Ben Askren – who pointed out an apparent lack of ability from Paddy Pimblett, whom the former lost to at UFC 296 last weekend.

Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion and Ultimate Fighter victor under the banner of the Dana White-led promotion, returned to the Octagon at UFC 296 earlier this month, suffering a one-sided unanimous decision to the returning, Pimblett, in what came as the former’s seventh consecutive defeat.

Without a victory since a second round doctor’s stoppage TKO win over Donald Cerrone back in 2019, Ferguson, who once held a division-best 12-fight unbeaten winning streak, now joins former two-weight champion, B.J. Penn on a record-setting seven-fight losing skid off the back of last weekend’s judging loss.

Tony Ferguson urged to retire by Ben Askren

And urged by both UFC CEO, White, and former two-division champion, Daniel Cormier to call time on his fighting career, Ferguson – who knocked back encouragement to stop fighting, has now been urged to do so by former ONE Championship and Bellator MMA gold holder, Askren.

“He (Tony Ferguson) says he wants to keep fighting,” Ben Askren told Middleeasy. “SoIs it a monetary thing where he needs to keep fighting for money? I don’t know, but Paddy (Pimblett) does not seem to be that good. He really doesn’t and Tony, he just couldn’t get off his back. I don’t know what his plan was. He is a wrestler. He grew up wrestling.”

“His trajectory is so insane,” Askren continued. “He was like, 13-0, or whatever the hell he was afor a while, and now he’s 0-7. It’s like, yeah, you need to be done, buddy.”

Do you think Tony Ferguson will finally call time on his UFC career?