‘Triple C’ Henry Cejudo takes a look at the potential welterweight showdown between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.
‘Chaos’ has been out of action since scoring a win over rival Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 nearly a year ago. Recent rumors suggest Covington is on his way back to the Octagon where he will face undefeated welterweight monster Khamzat Chimaev. Breaking down the fight is former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo who shared his thoughts on the highly-anticipated matchup on YouTube.
“Looking forward to this fight with him and Khamzat Chimaev, I think [Covington] is a more experienced fighter. I think he’s wrestled a lot longer than Khamzat Chimaev. I think this is going to be a good fight. I think it’s going to come down to who’s recovered faster and quicker. If this is a five-round fight, I almost want to lean toward Colby Covington because as we saw in that Gilbert Burns fight with Khamzat Chimaev, I’m not sure Khamzat Chimaev could ever make 170-pounds.”
BREAKING: Winner gets a title shot. Khamzat Chimaev vs Colby Covington officially in the works for UFC 285 on Mar. 4. It will be 5 rounds. pic.twitter.com/F8ZtfOaKjH
— Full Combat (@fullcombatoff) October 25, 2022
Henry Cejudo is Not Convinced Khamzat Chimaev Can Continue Making Welterweight Limit
Of course, Khamzat Chimaev has made the 170-pound limit in the past, but a shadow of doubt was cast on his ability to make the welterweight limit consistently after showing up to the UFC 279 weigh-ins nearly eight pounds over the limit for his scheduled main event showdown with Nate Diaz.
“When you’re eight pounds over fighting a superstar like Nate Diaz and you don’t make the weight, you maybe wonder. There’s two options: 1) you’re too big or 2) you’re scared. I don’t know which one it was, but if he could make the weight, my question is, will Khamzat actually recover with the gas tank of this guy who’s accustomed to making 170-pounds periodically?”
Following the chaos of UFC 279, UFC president Dana White confirmed there was a great debate amongst UFC matchmakers as to how they would book Chimaev going forward. Just as it appeared a jump to the middleweight division was in the Swedish national champion’s future, White confirmed that he would allow Chimaev one more opportunity to compete at 170 pounds.
When and where that happens is yet to be confirmed, but in a recent interview White seemed fairly receptive to the idea of scheduling Covington vs. Chimaev for the co-main event slot when the promotion returns to London in 2023.