[brid video=”893216″ player=”25478″ title=”Colby%20Covington%20UFC%20268″ duration=”992″ description=”Ahead of his spot in the main event of UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden, welterweight title challenger Colby Covington spoke to the media about his upcoming matchup with Kamaru Usman, and much more.” uploaddate=”2021-11-03″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19027/thumb/” contenturl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19027/sd/893216.mp4″]
Colby Covington is well aware of fast-rising UFC welterweight talent Khamzat Chimaev. However, don’t expect the two to faceoff in the Octagon anytime soon, since “Chaos” doesn’t think the Chechen fighter would have much of a chance against him if he already had trouble battling the “common cold” that is COVID-19.
On Wednesday, the UFC 268 headliner was asked during his media day scrum about what could be next if he beats Kamaru Usman (19-1) for the UFC 170-pound title on Nov. 6 inside Madison Square Garden. And if a bout with “Borz” could be on the horizon in the near future.
Colby Covington says Khamzat Chimaev was beat by “the common cold” of COVID
Well, Covington (16-2) isn’t too concerned about that possible booking in 2022. Firstly, because he thinks Chimaev (10-0) is overhyped, but secondly, he doesn’t seem to have much respect for him after a long battle with the pandemic-causing virus sent the unbeaten fighter to the sidelines for over a year.
“You know, C**-Shot Chimaev, he’s gotta do a lot more work than three fights in the UFC [to get a fight with him]. You guys hype these guys up real quick. Let’s not forget he was put down by the common cold,” Covington told the media. “He was ready to retire off the common cold. That’s a 99.9% survival rate to beat the common cold, and C**-Shot Chimaev was ready to give up and retire. So he doesn’t want to fight me. He’s got a way less chance than 99.9% chance against me.”
After having to drop out a couple of scheduled bouts because of a slower than expected recovery from COVID, Chimaev publicly suggested last year that his career could be over. Obviously, that didn’t happen and he returned to action last weekend. Putting forth a dominant performance in submitting Li Jingliang in two minutes at UFC 267.
This week, UFC President Dana White publicly stated he would “100%” be interested in making a fight between Chimaev and UFC superstar Nate Diaz after the 27-year-old suggested a matchup with the American following his win last week.
UFC 268 takes place on Saturday night in New York City. The main card pay-per-view begins at 10 pm ET and airs exclusively on ESPN+.
