If there’s one thing that’s for sure about Colby Covington (13-1), it’s that he’s as marmite as one can possibly be. With every victory he picks up, whether it be in the Octagon or on social media, the dislike for him seemingly grows.
Despite that, thus far, the online following and attention has served him well. While toppling contenders at 170 pounds, Colby continues his hunt for, in his words, the ‘joke’ sitting atop the welterweight division in Tyron Woodley. Riding a wave of five wins in a row, Covington expects to meet the reigning champion sooner rather than later.
“I’ve had contact with the UFC,” Covington told Niall McGrath on the latest episode of the Talking Brawls podcast.
“It’s a process that you have to trust. I don’t have a title fight yet, but I’m training for my title fight. I’m working on the skills I need to work on and getting better every day, so when I go out there I’m going to starch Tyron Woodley in the first round. If I have to wait until the summertime to do it because he just wants to piggy-back off of the stars – because that’s what he’s been doing his whole career.
“He can’t even make a pay-per-view name of himself, he’s a joke. He’s never been the main event of a big show because they know he can’t sell pay-per-views, so what he does is wait for the stars to fight, like UFC 205, he’s like ‘Oh Dana, let me fight at 205 on Conor’s card because if you don’t let me on there, you’re racist.
“Dana lets him, he gets to piggy back off Conor’s success, gets his five million. Then Tyron waits out awhile and comes back wanting a big money fight, begging to fight on the Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier card, piggy-backing even more because he can’t make his own star.
“Now he’s doing the same with Stipe Miocic and Cormier, while Dana and the UFC let him do what he wants because if they don’t he just claims racism.
“I trust the process, though,” Colby continued. “Luckily, I’m still young in the game. I’m still in my twenties. Tyron is thirty-six. Every day I’m getting better, faster and stronger, but it’s only getting worse for him. However long he wants to wait, time is on my side.”
Whilst chasing the welterweight title, Colby has made very little in friends and many of that in foes. One of the many foes whom have taken aim at the 170-pound contender, Kamaru Usman (12-1) is near the top of the list. However, in Colby’s point of view, the name is unfamiliar.
“I’ve never heard that name in my life,” Colby stated. “There’s that many guys in the UFC that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Of course there’s going to be guys at the bottom calling out guys at the top of the mountain, but it’s not how it works. You have to earn your way in this business. I’ve earned my way. I’ve just beaten three top ten guys; two of them were top five, so these guys making crickets at the bottom can wait in line. I’ve never heard of them, but once they earn their way up, I will bash them back down the mountain.”
While on the hunt for UFC welterweight gold, Colby is willing to take out any contender that may get in his way. One which may beat him in the title hunt is former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos (28-9). With his aforementioned trust in the system intact, should he have to wait a little longer, he has no qualms in locking horns with Stephen Thompson (14-2).
“If Woodley gets Rafael Dos Anjos, then I want the choir boy,” the welterweight asserted. “We know the landscape of MMA right now. It’s either going to be me or Dos Anjos. If it is Rafael, y’know, guys get injured so easily in this sport, so if one of them is injured I’m popping right up into that fight.
“Another possibility is, if Woodley keeps playing the race-baiting game, Dana and the UFC might just strip him or do an interim title – and guess who’s there? The bad guy for hire, Colby Colvington at the front of the line. Some stuff is going to get sorted out in the next month or two, but if they do make Woodley and Dos Anjos and it goes ahead without any hitches, then I’ll happily take Wonderboy and put him to the back of the line.”
On paper, Covington has a case for a title shot over Dos Anjos given his recent resume. Given his history with Woodley as a former training partner, he feels there’s much more gasoline to poor on the fire in a bout between Tyron and the former.
“I feel I should be given it, though,” Colby divulged. “Look at our track records. I’m 5-0 in my last five fights, he’s 3-2. He’s a proven lightweight with no reach. He’s a midget. That’s why we call him Frankenerd. He’s out here getting knocked out by lightweights like Alvarez, then comes up to welterweight and hand picks his opponents.
“I was supposed to fight him at welterweight in Singapore, but he said he doesn’t want to fight Colby because he’s the king of the welterweight division, so he avoids me and barely beats Tarec Saffiedine whereas I fought the seventh-ranked Dong Hyun Kim and destroyed him in his home country.
“Rafael and I had a beef backstage. I called him out and pushed him and he said ‘Go get your title, Colby, you don’t want to fight me. Go get your title, blah blah blah.’ He’s so scared of me and he knows it. He beat another bum in Neil Magny and then Robbie Lawler. Robbie’s the most hit fighter in UFC history.
“Go check the stats,” he continued. “You want to talk about old? He’s a different kind of old. Demian Maia is old but he’s barely been hit and has most wins in UFC history. RDA doesn’t deserve this shot. He won’t even sell it, either, whereas I’ll be up in Tyron’s face. I’m going to look through that soul that I took when we trained together. If we fight, you’ll see drama and it will sell better than a fight with RDA.”
Photo: Zuffa
You can listen to the full interview with Covington at 42 minutes of the latest episode of Talking Brawls:
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