Colby Covington will finally return to the Octagon next Saturday in the main event of UFC 296 as he takes on Leon Edwards for the welterweight title.
Covington hasn’t fought since March of 2022 when he headlined UFC 272 and beat Jorge Masvidal by decision. It was a one-sided performance, but since then, ‘Chaos’ has been on the sidelines, as many thought he was holding out for a title shot.
However, that wasn’t the case at all. Instead, Colby Covington claims he has accepted every fight offered to him and it is other fighters who have declined to fight him.
Colby Covington says it isn’t his fault for layoff
“It’s been extremely tough because as soon as I got done with that fight with Jorge in March, I went backstage to Hunter Campbell and I said Hunter I want to fight again in June or July, get me back in there, I need to fight. I’m in my prime and I want to capitalize,” Covington said to ESPN. “They were looking at setting up that fight with that mother****er, Khamzat Chimaev but he’s unprofessional. He’s a clown. He’s out there laughing when he’s missing weight by 10 pounds, making a fool of this publicly traded beautiful company of the UFC, making a fool, laughing, while you are ruining their main event pay-per-view.
“He’s not accountable, he’s not someone he can trust in the spotlight. They gave him the easiest fight in the division, a guy the soy boy, a washed-up Nate Diaz, that shouldn’t even be fighting anymore, he can’t even talk straight, he’s not even coherent anymore,” Covington continued.
“They gave him the easiest fight to set up to get this big money fight in Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington. He couldn’t pass the test. He was afraid, plain and simple, he ran away from me to middleweight and it sucks because they were trying to set that fight up. That’s what’s been the delay, other fighters not agreeing to the fight and not doing business for the UFC. You think I wanted to sit out 18 months? I’m in my prime, you think I want to sit in my prime years, I wanted to fight in June, in July right after my last fight with Jorge. It’s not my fault I had to sit out that long,” Covington concluded.
Colby Covington also claims Dustin Poirier turned him down which also could have made his return happen sooner.
But, after sitting out for nearly two years, Covington is ready to fight Edwards and become the welterweight champion next year.
