Colby Bashes Belal, Sets New Timeline For ‘Rocky’ Fight

Belal Muhammad captured a unanimous decision victory over fellow welterweight contender Gilbert Burns in the UFC 288 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event last Sat. night (May 6, 2023) at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, a bout contested on short notice across five rounds of action.

Colby Covington was not impressed (and neither was anyone else).

“Chaos” is expected to get the next crack at reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards at some point later this year, with the winner moving on to fight Muhammad. But Covington believes “Remember the Name” will not be able to sit out for that long and instead be forced to accept another fight.

“They were fighting for nothing,” Covington told Submission Radio. “You think [Muhammad is] just gonna sit out until early 2024? Because now this [Edwards] title fight is getting pushed back until later, the end of the year. You know fall, winter. So, you think he’s just gonna be able to sit out? He has that type of star power to sit out and then call his shot? No, he’s gonna have to fight again. And rightfully so.”

Covington, 35, is 0-2 in welterweight title fights and hasn’t competed for more than a year but somehow managed to score another crack at the 170-pound crown with a decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272. Muhammad has competed three times since “Chaos” has been on the bench, going 3-0 with one knockout.

“I know they’re pushing [the Edwards fight back], I don’t know, they’re looking for August, September now is my guess,” Covington continued. “They don’t have anything locked in yet. The sooner the better for me. If it’s today, I’m ready. If it’s tomorrow, I’ll be ready. If it’s however long it is, it’s just a formality. The fact that [Edwards] just turned down a home date in London … how do you turn that down? That’s disgusting. You’re sh*tting on all your fans, you’re robbing all your people of a pay-per-view main event.”

Edwards captured the crown with a stunning knockout victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278, then defended the title by outpointing “The Nigerian Nightmare” in their UFC 286 rematch. Hopefully the promotion can get pen to paper over the next couple of weeks to get the 170-pound assembly line moving again.