Colby Covington is not interested in fighting Leon Edwards.
After Edwards’ fight with Khamzat Chimaev fell through for the third time last week, UFC president Dana White said he’s looking to match Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) with former interim welterweight champion Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in a No. 1 contender fight.
But Covington, who’s made it clear that he either wants a rematch with champion Kamaru Usman or a fight with best friend-turned-enemy Jorge Masvidal, is surprised that the UFC is even trying to put that fight together.
“‘Leon Scott’ hasn’t earned anything,” Covington told Submission Radio on Tuesday. “I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated championship business. I’m not in the Leon Scott charity business. This isn’t charity hour, man. I’m fighting at the top of the mountain. I’m fighting the best in the world. Did ‘Marty Fakenewsman’ get a call from the president (Donald Trump) after his last fight? Oh geez, I wonder why? Because he sucks, he’s irrelevant. So, I’ve done things no one has ever done in this sport.
“I’m not doing charity business no more. It’s not my fault this kid hasn’t fought in two years. It’s not my fault this kid – there’s people from England fighting all the time in the pandemic, they’re not scared to fight. So, I’m not doing charity for this guy who hasn’t fought in two years. He’s irrelevant, he’s beat a bunch of bums, and I’m not doing charity. This isn’t charity hour, this is (expletive) championship (expletive) pay-per-view hour.”
With Usman angling for a Masvidal rematch after stopping Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 and the promotion seemingly on board with the idea, it would eliminate Covington’s two desired matchups.
That leaves Covington baffled, who can’t understand why the UFC would opt for the champion to rematch Masvidal instead of him. He sees a rematch between Usman and Masvidal going the exact same way as the first time, when Usman won all five rounds in two of the judges’ scorecards.
“You’re gonna give ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal, the same guy that you were talking on the phone with me and saying he’s the hardest guy in the world to deal with, he’s the next Diaz. He only wants to fight once every two or three years. You’re gonna reward that guy? He hasn’t fought since that fight, a year. And that fight goes the same way every single time. You want to do that same exact outcome again? For what? What’s the point? Six days, six months, six years, that fight’s the same every single time.
“The people want to see one fight, they want to see the rematch, ‘Marty Fakenewsman,’ Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington Part 2. Are you (expletive) kidding me? It’s a joke. It was the biggest corruption in the history of the sport. Are you kidding me? I was destroying him. He got lucky, and he knows that. He got life rafts thrown to him multiple times. Why doesn’t he want to run it back with me? Oh, because I’m the toughest dog in the pack. If I was the easy dog in the pack he’d be coming after me, but he’s not.”
Since getting stopped by Usman in a back-and-forth “Fight of the Year” contender at UFC 245, Covington rebounded with a fifth-round stoppage win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in September.
The win repositioned Covington at the top of the rankings, but he is yet to book his next fight. There were rumblings of a matchup between him and Masvidal, as well as the possibility of coaching “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite each other, but Covington says Masvidal turned down the UFC’s offer of a seven-figure payday and “The Ultimate Fighter” gig. So he can’t understand why Masvidal would get the title fight over him.
“Let’s talk about real business, let’s not talk about charity business no more,” Covington said. “I deserve and I earned a fight for the world title. I just destroyed the former champion, finished him like nobody’s finished him before in the UFC. I came back and won a fight, what has Jorge Masvidal done besides sit on the sidelines and fake (expletive) pull out of fights?
“He’s scared to fight. He knows he’s washed up, he’s a journeyman. He’s looking for one more pay day. No one wants to see that guy fight for the title, they know what’s gonna happen. It’s gonna be the same exact outcome. And why reward a coward like that? A guy that’s blatantly scared to fight?”
Colby Covington shuts down potential Leon Edwards fight: ‘I’m not doing charity for this guy’
