Colby Covington hasn’t fought since UFC 225 in June last year. On that night, he defeated Rafael dos Anjos to become the interim welterweight champion. He was then linked to a fight against then-champion Tyron Woodley last year but was unable to compete when health issues arose.
Even though we haven’t seen Covington in action in some time, he has continued to stay in the public eye due to his typical antics. Regardless of how one feels about his shenanigans, there’s no denying that the 14-1 welterweight can fight, and that he seems primed for the next title shot against the current welterweight champ, Kamaru Usman.
Covington recently spoke with The Body Lock’s Michael Fiedel at the American Top Team media day.
Kamaru “Snoozeman” is next
Covington was cageside at UFC 235. He had his interim championship belt laid over his shoulder and was trying to grab as much camera time as possible. And why not? Knowing he’d likely fight the winner of the contest between Usman and Woodley, Covington wanted to get the ball rolling on the promotion.
When asked what he thought of the welterweight title clash, Covington didn’t hold back.
“Snoozeman beat Tyquil Woodley and it was a boring fight. You know, he put 30% of the fans to sleep. The only reason that the fans were popping in the arena was because I was in the arena, the real champ. As soon as they put the real champ on the jumbotron in the arena, you got the loudest pop of the night. So, you know, I had to save the fans. They promised the real champ was going to be there and so I was. The real world champion was there that night for that number one contender fight.”
“I’m happy for Snoozeman for winning his number one contender fight but he’s got nowhere to go now. Now he’s going to get left in a pool of blood and he’s going to have to leave the Octagon on a stretcher.”
Confrontation at Palms Casino Resort
Last week, Kamaru Usman appeared on the Joe Rogan MMA Show and stated he’d be “bringing the wrath of every immigrant in the country” with him to the cage when he eventually meets Covington.
Covington stated that Usman didn’t know what he was talking about and “doesn’t know the difference between legal and illegal immigrants.” He also asserted that Usman was being fed those lines by his “shady manager Abdela-sleaze” (Ali Abdelaziz), who Covington recently had a confrontation within the Palms Casino Resort buffet line.
“Yeah, it’s a complete joke. You know, I’m sitting in the Palms buffet line meeting up with one of my chicks. She’s going to come down and have lunch with me. All we want to do was get some crab legs. Can we get some king crab legs? Is there something wrong with us getting crab legs? And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Abdela-sleaze comes over and pushes me and throws a swing on me.”
“Of course, I got cat-like reflexes, so you know, he wasn’t going to hit me. My reflexes are way too good. And then Usman’s jumping over barriers, looking very healthy, which by the way, he’s been faking injuries. He’s trying to delay his ass beaten. But that’s another story for another time. And then his little friend, his little f—ing ogre friends he’s got with him is pushing me like acting all tough in a buffet line.”
“Dude. There’s f—ing innocent little kids in the way. There’s pregnant ladies… All these people are just trying to have a good Sunday and they’re acting like street thugs. He’s trying to claim he some good guy. Give this speech the night before about, you know, how he cares about kids and he wants to make the world a better place then why do you have to act like a street thug gangster?”
Don’t skip the line, Jorge
While it seems all but set in stone that Covington will finally get his shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship, fans were rather impressed by his teammate Jorge Masvidal last weekend. After knocking out Darren Till, some thought “Gamebred” may have earned the next shot at Usman. Covington doesn’t think so.
“I’m thankful that he bounced back. You know, he was on a two-fight losing streak. He’s one and two in his last three fights and I think like five and five in his last ten. So it’s good for him to bounce back. I’m happy for the man. I’m happy for American Top Team. It’s a good thing, but come on man, you’re not getting to the top of the line buddy. I’m the real champ. I’m America’s champ. I’m the people’s champ.”
Covington then declared that Usman’s manager Abdelaziz was trying to make sure that he didn’t receive the next shot.
“He (Abdelaziz) was out there begging and campaigning for anybody to fight Snoozeman, but me. At first, he wanted Ben Askren and then he wanted Darren Till, then Darren Till loses, now he wants Jorge (Masvidal). The guy wants nothing to do with me because he knows I’m going to crush his golden ticket.”
“I’m going to take everything that’s Snoozeman worked for and he’s going to be nothing after I beat him.”