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Conor McGregor vs Colby Covington has the potential to be one of the biggest UFC fights of the decade. Covington has engaged in a war of words with the Notorious One many times over the past few years to no avail. Despite the promotional viability, the beef between the self-publicists has not materialized into an actual fight for one simple reason: The peak of Covington and McGregor's popularity and activity level came at completely different points in time.
Colby Covington was a relatively unknown welterweight at the time of Conor McGregor's rise to double-champ status. However, since Chaos shed his skin and turned into a brash showman with breakout performances, McGregor has become a part-time fighter averaging less than one fight per year, with no belts on his shoulders.
When Colby Covington called Conor McGregor 'a coked-up little leprechaun'
Every story has a beginning. The Conor McGregor-Colby Covington story began following the infamous Brooklyn incident. After his outlandish remarks about Brazilian people following the win over Demian Maia, Colby Covington became the talk of the town in early 2018. Conor McGregor took the media attention away from him with the dolley-throwing incident and Colby Covington did not like the maneuver. Chaos expressed his disdain for the Irishman in a tweet and called him 'a coked-up leprechaun'.
The tweet is the first open callout between the fighters. It was followed up by Colby Covington's interview with Adam Hunter. Here, Chaos expressed his thoughts on the Notorious One in detail, claiming that McGregor would not consider a move to welterweight if Colby became the champion of the division.
"He (Conor McGregor) knew Colby 'Chaos' is the king of the headlines in the media now. He had to go throw the dolly to the bus to get the headlines back to him... He's been talking like he's ready for three belts but after I get the belt, he's not going to say another word about 170, mark my words... After he sees what I am gonna do to RDA, Conor McGregor is not gonna want to do anything with Colby 'Chaos' Covington. I assure you that. We know Conor likes to handpick his fights so he is not gonna take a fight he knows he can't win," Colby Covington said.
Ahead of the welterweight title fight against champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 245, Covington rekindled his beef with McGregor and listed the Irishman as one of the future opponents in the event of the title fight victory.
"As the people's champ, I'd like to ask the people who they'd like me to fight next. Should it be journeyman Jorge Masvidal? Should it be GSP? Should it be kebob (Khabib Nurmagomedov)? Should I beat that little Irish leprechaun that couldn't knock a drunk dude - old dude - off a stool at the bar? Who should it be?" Colby Covington said.
Set to make a return to the welterweight in the next PPV event, Conor McGregor hinted at challenging Kamaru Usman for the welterweight belt after the Nigerian nightmare emerged victorious at UFC 245, which could have set him on the collision course with Covington.
But Conor McGregor has never shown interest in fighting Colby Covington despite the promotional aspect of the fight and turned a deaf ear to his repeated attempts to get the Irishman's attention.
Although the fight between Conor McGregor and Colby Covington still makes sense from a financial standpoint, it is not in the best interests of Conor McGregor anymore. Covington has shown huge improvements in his craft in recent times and seems to be getting better with each performance. Conor McGregor, however, seems to have fallen behind due to lack of activity and lightweight could be a more suitable division for him, if he continues to fight against top contenders.
See Here: Conor McGregor's Salary & Endorsements
