Bo Nickal and Colby Covington are going at it again, and this one is straight-up about who is telling the truth.
Nickal says Covington was offered a fight against him for UFC Freedom 250 at the White House and turned it down. Covington says that version is fiction and called it “fake news” during an interview with Ariel Helwani. Now we have one side saying there are receipts and the other side saying the call never happened the way Nickal describes it.
For fans, this matters because UFC Freedom 250 is being pushed as a massive showcase card, and this matchup would have been one of the loudest talking points on it. Nickal is currently booked against Kyle Daukaus, but he claims Covington had a path to that slot before things were finalized.
Covington says the White House offer never happened
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Covington denied he got a White House fight offer for Nickal and gave his side of the talks with UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell.
“That’s 100 percent fake news, Ariel. We could call Hunter Campbell right now. I’ll put him on the phone right now. He never offered me Bo for the White House. I said I’d fight any man. I’d fight Bo – we can go any weight class.”
“I asked him, if I fight Bo, is this gonna be on the White House? ‘No, no, we only got limited spots.’ This is exact words from Hunter. I said, ‘OK, well, if you only have limited spots, and I can’t fight Bo at the White House, I’m fighting at my normal weight class. I’m gonna fight at 170, because I only walk around at 185, 190. Why would I fight at middleweight against some nobody who’s never been in a main event in his life? … No, the fight was never offered at the White House.’”
Watch the interview clip below:
Colby Covington claims he was never offered the Bo Nickal fight on the White House card:
"That’s 100% fake news, Ariel. We could call Hunter Campbell right now—he never offered me Bo for the White House.
I said I’d fight any man. I’d fight Bo. We can go any weight class.
They… pic.twitter.com/tsO7bgIzeT
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 25, 2026
Nickal fires back with “text message receipts” claim
Nickal didn’t let that one slide. He responded publicly and accused Covington of lying about the entire situation.
“Colby is a liar. 1. There are text message receipts of him being offered the fight. 2. I saw him weigh in at RAF with my own eyes at 198lbs.
He will never fight me because he knows I’ll kill him.”
The weight-class angle is a big part of this. Covington has spent his UFC career at welterweight, while Nickal competes at middleweight. Covington argues jumping up to face an ascending 185er makes no career sense unless the stage is worth it. Nickal’s side is simpler: if the offer was real, then passing is passing.
Both fighters have real stakes here. Covington is trying to stop a skid after losses to Joaquin Buckley and Leon Edwards, while Nickal is rebuilding momentum after his first pro loss and a bounce-back stoppage over Rodolfo Vieira. A win at a high-profile event could swing either career narrative fast.
If this fight never happens, the back-and-forth still did its job: it put heat on both names and gave UFC matchmakers another grudge option to keep in their pocket. If it does happen later, this argument will be the built-in promo package.
Related: Bo Nickal news, Colby Covington coverage, and UFC updates.
