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Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington has predicted trouble for rising star Khamzat Chimaev. The two fighters have been linked to a rumored showdown that seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.
During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Covington was asked about the possibility of a fight between him and Chimaev.
Covington responded by suggesting that Chimaev's hype will fade as he moves up to the middleweight category. Covington also accused Chimaev of cutting weight to gain an unfair advantage over his opponents, aiming to be 40-50 pounds heavier than everyone else in the welterweight category.
Covington then made it clear that he will only fight near his natural weight and will not compete against Chimaev. The 35-year-old also criticized Chimaev's professionalism, citing 'Borz's infamous weight-missing incident at UFC 279 where he showed up overweight for his fight against Nate Diaz.
"Nah, I don't think so. I think he'll lose his hype at 85'. He's cutting all that weight because he wants that weight bully advantage. He wants to be, you know, 40-50 pounds bigger than everybody, guys in the welterweight... I'm gonna fight near my natural weight, what I weigh. This will never happen. Look at how unprofessional he is. He showed up [overweight] for the easiest fight in the company..."
Colby Covington's comments suggest that he is not impressed with the young fighter and that he sees him as a "weight bully" who is not worthy of the hype he has received.
Whether Chimaev will respond to these comments remains to be seen. But the American's words are sure to add fuel to the fire of what could potentially be a heated rivalry in the UFC's welterweight division.
A fight against Khamzat Chimaev was never presented formally, claims Colby Covington
Colby Covington denies that a fight against Khamzat Chimaev was ever officially offered to him, despite rumors of the potential matchup circulating for months. The UFC had expressed interest in the fight, but according to Covington, it was never formally presented to him.
Covington had been eager to fight Chimaev and "derail that hype train," but he now considers the matter settled, calling Chimaev unprofessional and a clown. The 35-year-old made his feelings clear, saying:
"[The fight] was never formally presented to me. We talked about it. It was the fight that I wanted. I wanted to derail that hype train... I was begging to fight that. I was chomping at the bit, but we saw how unprofessional he was... The guy’s a clown, I don’t want to ever hear that guy’s name in this division again. Let that dog-faced motherf***er rot in 185.”
Check out Colby Covington's response below:
