Colby Covington Slams Islam Makhachev For Allegedly Ducking Him

Colby Covington recently sounded off on Islam Makhachev and claimed that the Dagestani grappler was afraid of fighting him. The former interim welterweight champion is seemingly making plans for his title reign and sees Makhachev as a potential opponent. His statements come after speculations about the lightweight champion moving up to welterweight in the future.

This year will see Covington make his long-awaited return to action. ‘Chaos’ will challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight title at UFC 296 on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena. UFC 296 had its main event announced this past week. A flyweight title banger between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval will serve as the co-main event.

Colby Covington has been inactive since his unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022. Their animosity spilled out of the octagon after the fight between the once best friends and teammates. As the story goes, there is an ongoing lawsuit after Masvidal allegedly assaulted Covington at a steakhouse in Miami. 

Despite Chaos’ claim of suffering brain damage from the altercation, he is now seemingly fit for action. In October 2022, Islam Makhachev was crowned the new lightweight champion. Covington sees the Dagestani as a possible first challenger if he dethrones Edwards. He accuses Makhachev and Nurmagomedov of being afraid of him and avoiding any suggested matchup.

In a recent interview with James Lynch, Colby Covington outlined how Makhachev was talking smack. The 155-pound king allegedly stated that he wanted to fight in a “real man’s division,” and Covington took it upon himself to be that “real” man. 

Covington anticipated a highly-awaited super fight between them and speculated that they both weighed the same. To be honest, he most likely weighs more than Covington. Colby Covington then claimed that Islam Makhachev was probably around 190 pounds and quite muscular. He added that the Dagestani was a large guy who cut weight to gain an advantage.

Makhachev won the UFC championship title at UFC 280 by defeating Charles Oliveira via second-round arm-triangle submission. He holds a near-perfect record of 24-1 and is preparing to face the Brazilian in a thrilling rematch at UFC 294. After beating Oliveira, Makhachev outpointed featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for his first title defense.

However, Colby Covington did not find the lightweight king’s performance impressive. ‘Chaos’ reflected on Makhachev’s lone career defeat to Adriano Martins in October 2015 and revealed how he helped the Brazilian with his camp. 

Makhachev has indicated his desire to move up in weight class and has even mentioned the possibility of facing Edwards. If Covington emerges victorious at UFC 296, it could provide added motivation for Makhachev to make the transition sooner. However, this assumes that Makhachev is able to defeat Oliveira at UFC 294 next month.