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Colby Covington hasn't competed since UFC 272 last year and has been uncharacteristically quiet on the sidelines. UFC president Dana White recently revealed that the No.2-ranked welterweight is ready to return to the octagon.
Speaking to the media following UFC 285, the promotional frontman said:
"Colby's ready to fight. He's ready to fight and he's ready to fight anybody. I know we've reached out to him for a couple of different fights and he said yes to it, but it just didn't work out."
While welterweight contenders Khamzat Chimaev, Belal Muhammad, and Gilbert Burns have all called out Colby Covington over the past year, Dana White didn't reveal which opponents 'Chaos' agreed to face or why nothing came to fruition.
After his UFC 285 victory, Shavkat Rakhmonov became the latest welterweight to call out the former interim champion. White seemingly liked the matchup, calling it a "fun one":
"That's fun. That's a fun one. I'm not making the fight. I'm just saying that sounds fun, I didn't know he did that, but we'll see."
Catch Dana White's comments on Colby Covington below:
Shavkat Rakhmonov picked up a third-round submission victory over Geoff Neal at UFC 285 this past weekend. The Kazakh phenom will likely claim Neal's No.7 spot on the welterweight ladder when the updated rankings come out.
In his post-fight interview, 'Nomad' revealed that he is looking to face Covington next, or receive a title shot.
Colby Covington's inactivity: Ali Abdelaziz claims 'Chaos' is avoiding Belal Muhammad
Belal Muhammad has called out Colby Covington on several occasions, but the latter has never responded. Muhammad's manager Ali Abdelaziz recently took to Twitter to claim that 'Chaos' is avoiding the No.4-ranked welterweight, tweeting:
"@ColbyCovMMA keeps running away from @bullyb170 like he ran in the buffet line. If Colby doesn’t wanna fight then Belal 100% deserves the next title shot."
Covington hasn't fought since his dominant unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal last year, while Muhammad's last fight was his TKO victory over Sean Brady.
With the welterweight strap set to be contested at the upcoming pay-per-view, both top-ranked 170-pounders will be looking to put themselves in contention for the next title shot. Interestingly, Muhammad recently teased a fight against Covington, tweeting:
"Coming soon"
