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UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington claims that he was the reason why Khabib Nurmagomedov stayed at lightweight.
Nurmagomedov, the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, recently shocked the MMA world by announcing his retirement following a successful title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.
The controversial former interim UFC Welterweight World Champion appeared on an episode of Submission Radio and had some interesting things to say about the freshly-retired Russian star.
For starters, Colby Covington believes that he was the main reason why Khabib never went up to the welterweight division, claiming that “The Eagle” was afraid of him.
“I think I’m the man, and I’m the reason that he doesn’t come up to 170 [pounds] in the first place,” Colby Covington boldly stated. “There’s a reason that Khabib cuts all that weight, he cuts tons of weight, everybody knows he walks around at like 190 [pounds].
"He’s bigger than me, but you know, I’m a real man, I fight at my weight class. I’ll fight a man, any size.”
Colby Covington went on to mock Khabib for ‘fighting a bunch of little guys’ in the lightweight division.
“Khabib’s looking for a way, he’s beating up little midgets, okay, that’s cool, Khabib. You beat up a bunch of little guys, a bunch of little midgets, but you’re not gonna fight at a real man’s weight class like 170 [pounds] at welterweight because you know I’m the man.”
“You know who’s here. You know you have no chance to keep that undefeated record, so there’s a reason he’s looking to cut a bunch of weight and there’s a reason I’ll fight any man alive,” Covington continued.
Covington is coming off an impressive victory over former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley back in September. It was his first fight back since coming up short against reigning UFC welterweight king Kamaru Usman back in December of 2019.
Colby Covington continues to take shots at NBA champion LeBron James
Colby Covington also had some choice words for four-time NBA Champion LeBron James.
Along with his tirade against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Covington let a few verbal bullets fly towards LeBron, who recently helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their 17th NBA championship.
Colby Covington says that like Khabib, LeBron is afraid of him.
“There’s a reason why LeBron James, who’s six-foot-seven and 300 pounds is running from me, he’s scared.”
“These guys don’t want to fight me. I fight at a real man’s weight class. It doesn’t matter how big you are, if I put you on your back - which I’m going to, that’s a guaranteed fact - you’re gonna be three feet shorter than me then,” Covington continued.
This isn’t the first time that Colby Covington had LeBron in his crosshairs.
After defeating Tyron Woodley back in September, Covington called LeBron a “woke athlete and a spineless coward” in the post-fight interview pertaining to LeBron’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement and his criticism of US President Donald Trump.
Covington has also continued to throw shots at LeBron on social media.
