Very seldom can a fighter can say that he is more popular following a loss. But that is not the case with Colby Covington. He is coming off one of the best fights of this calendar year. The UFC 268 main event featured welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and the No.1 contender Colby Covington. Despite losing the fight by a unanimous decision, Covington’s stock went up rapidly.
Following the fight, Colby immediately called out Jorge Masvidal. He suggested the fight would go good business as the two have a history together on their way to stardom. However, Masvidal is suffering from a broken rib, as revealed by Covington himself. Hence the question arises, who will Colby Covington fight next? In a recent interview with MMA NEWS, the 33-year old revealed future plans.
The Sacramento native has revealed what fight it will make sense for him to take next. He commented on why Kamaru Usman needs to fight him again and whether a fight with a Diaz-brother holds any kind of significance for him or not. Colby did not rule out a move to middleweight either and discussed a fight with Israel Adesanya.
Colby Covington is open to take on Nate Diaz
On being asked by the host whether he would ever fight Nick Diaz or Nate Diaz, Colby Covington was affirmative. But he does not think either of them will accept him. The fighter said, “Yes, It does interest me. But I’m not gonna waste my breath or get my hopes high for that fight (either a Nick or Nate fight). They are never gonna fight me.”
They know who the daddy is (referring to himself). They know who runs the west coast. I am the only west coast gangster out of the three names. They are Stockton soy-boys. I’m the raw American steel and twisted sex appeal.” said Colby Covington in the interview.
Nate Diaz last fought against Leon Edwards and lost the fight. He is currently going back and forth with Youtuber Jake Paul, who has a fight coming up with Tommy Fury. Nate is currently contracted with UFC but his term is about to come up as he has only 1 fight to go. Colby Covington pointed it out.
“I don’t think Nate is gonna fight. I don’t know what they are gonna do with him. He has only one fight left on his contract. So of course he is gonna accept me on the last fight of his contract. I’ll annihilate that guy, leave him for dead. He will have nothing left in the tank,”
‘Nick Diaz has no discipline’
From Nate, Colby shifted his attention to Nick as the host asked him about Nick’s loss against Robbie Lawler. He said, ” Exactly what I expected. I’ve heard the rumours, Nick Diaz is not disciplined. He was a good fighter at one point in time, not a great fighter, a good fighter. He was a brawler, but the guy let himself go.”
“He is in Vegas every weekend partying, doing drugs drinking heavy alcohol and losing control of his life. I knew what was gonna happen. I knew he was gonna get knocked out by Robbie. Look at his gut, that’s a retirement body. He should hang it up. (Nick Dia) has a good legacy, it’s average. But I don’t wanna see that guy hurt.”
‘Is Middleweight an option?’
Colby Covington has fought the welterweight champ twice in his last 3 fights. Despite losing both of those, Colby’s credibility is unaffected. He has long strived for greatness, and moving up in the weight and fighting for the middleweight strap will only add to his legacy.
” Yes, it’s an option. I used to train with bigger guys all the time. I loved training with bigger guys. I knew I could wear them out quicker. They were bigger, they have more muscle and they wear quicker. (Middleweights) are a lot slower too.”
Israel Adesanya is the current champion of the 185 lbs division. Ever since winning the title, the ‘Stylebender’ has been on a fabulous run. During his reign, Adesanya has beaten Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero and Marvin Vettori. Israel won the title from Robert Whittaker who is a former welterweight fighter himself.
Talking about a potential fight with Israel Adesanya, Colby Covington said, “If the right opportunity presents itself, I’ll destroy anybody at middleweight. ‘Stylebender’, he can’t wrestle. He is not a well-rounded fighter. Honestly, I’d take him down and gas him out.”
“He wouldn’t be able to stop me. (Israel Adesanya) got taken down by a guy (Jan Blachowicz) in his last fight who does not take guys down. He can’t wrestle. If the right opportunity presents itself, I know how good I’m. These guys can’t stop me. I have never lost a round against the guys in middleweight when I used to train with those guys, so we’ll see,” said the 34-year old.
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