Colby Covington finally has a date for his long-awaited clash with welterweight world champion Leon Edwards.
On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White delivered multiple blockbuster announcements pertaining to the promotion’s final two pay-per-views of the year. On December 16, ‘Chaos’ will headline UFC 296 as he receives his third opportunity to capture the 170-pound title. Following the announcement, Colby Covington spoke with James Lynch in an exclusive interview with My MMA News to discuss his impending title tilt and what took so long to get the bout ironed out.
During their conversation, Covington once again suggested that the original plan was to book the fight for UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden a month earlier, but the event’s headliner, Jon Jones, allegedly squashed those plans.
“It was going to be one of the biggest pay-per-views of all time, but ultimately Jon didn’t want me on there and I’m not gonna say the UFC told me that,” Covington said. “I have my source and things happen. He hasn’t come out about the rumors that he might have been on Epstein Island, so I want answers. I want to ask the tough questions that the journalists aren’t going to ask him. They’re delivering him softballs. I want to ask him the tough questions about his personality, his lifestyle.
“Was he or was he not on Epstein Island? There’s no saying that he wasn’t, but I haven’t seen a call log yet. So I want answers. I want to know, was Jon Jones on Epstein Island?”
Colby Covington ACCUSES Jon Jones of being on… Jeffrey Epstein’s island 😭 pic.twitter.com/cPi3LAcJ8c
— Kenny B 📟🏝 (@KennyBalii) September 21, 2023
Before Covington could continue levying any more ridiculous accusations against the reigning heavyweight champ, Lynch was able to steer the two-time title challenge back toward his UFC 296 opponent, Leon Edwards. Asked for his thoughts on the matchup with ‘Rocky’ stylistically, Covington said:
“It’s a great matchup. I love fighting southpaws. There’s a reason he’s delaying this matchup and I think it’s because he knows this is the hardest stylistic fight for him and for me, it’s just another fight. Another big pay-per-view main event. I don’t even remember the last time I fought a f*cking three-round fight like some of these other bums that call out my name.
“I think it’s a great stylistic fight. Southpaw to southpaw and I just don’t think he can keep up with my well-roundedness. He’s gonna be guessing the whole time. Am I taking him down? Am I striking? Now I’m a black belt under Sensei Valverde so my submission skills, my finishing skills… I’m coming to put this dude’s lights out. He ain’t making it 25 minutes come December 16.”
America’s Champion is BACK 12/16/23 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 #ufc296 pic.twitter.com/FTBK4TWWL0
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) September 21, 2023
Colby Covington Calls Out Belal Muhammad, Conor McGregor, and Islam Makhachev
If Colby Covington’s prediction for UFC 296 comes to fruition, a rematch with Leon Edwards would be the likeliest scenario, but it’s possible that the UFC could finally pull the trigger on granting Belal Muhammad his much-deserved opportunity at gold. According to Covington, neither Muhammad nor anyone else in the division is deserving, but he had some rather choice words for ‘Remember the Name’ after Muhammad previously suggested that Covington was only getting another shot at the welterweight title due to a healthy dose of Dana White privilege.
“Neither him nor anybody else is deserving. He’s a racist,” Covington quipped. “Could you imagine having the hate in your heart to actually press the send button on a tweet that’s completely racist, saying that I only got this because of the color of my skin? It’s white privilege? Could you imagine that? In America you’ll get canceled, but what would happen in Canada? Isn’t there a law now in Canada where it’s hate speech and you’ll get locked up in jail for saying some racist things like that?”
If Covington has the welterweight strap around his waist come December 16, he’ll likely become a target for Irish megastar Conor McGregor who enjoys calling out fighters after they gain a little bit of clout.
“There’s a lot of big fights when I’m the undisputed [champion] in December,” Covingting said. “Conor McGregor’s always looming if he wants to come back, but I don’t think he’s going to want to fight after he sees the performance I put on. He doesn’t want to get embarrassed in front of the world. He’s a great fighter. He’s done great things. He’s unpredictable. He could do anything at any moment. He’s a dangerous guy, but when he sees what I put on Leon, those guys are going to run from me.”
‘Chaos’ is even willing to welcome current lightweight world champion Islam Makhachev to welterweight.
“There’s that little mongoloid that’s been talking a little bit saying he wants to come up and fight in a real man’s division cause he’s in a little boy’s weight class and I’m talking about Islam Makhachev,” Covington said. “He’s in a little man’s weight class. He’s fighting little midgets and he’s barely beating midgets. I mean, split decisions, split draws. It’s just pathetic.”
Before he concerns himself with what comes next, Covington would be wise to keep his focus on the task at hand. After all, Leon Edwards has twice beaten the very man who kept ‘Chaos’ from claiming the welterweight title in his previous two attempts.
Watch the full interview below:
