Earlier this year, on an April episode of BJ Penn Radio, UFC 225 interim welterweight title challenger Colby Covington shared plans to pursue gold in the lightweight middleweight divisions in the future.
“I don’t think [middleweight champ Robert Whittaker] is that good, man,” Covington said on the April episode. “He got knocked out by Stephen Thompson, and Stephen Thompson couldn’t hold my jock strap. So I might be looking to go up [to middleweight]. You know, I always wanted to get the belt [in] the harder weight class first. I’d rather go 170, get my belt, go to 185, smack Whittaker around, and then go to 155, and we’ll look for Khabib [Nurmagomedov].”
Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, which aired late last week, Covington reiterated this grand plan, assuring that neither Whittaker nor Nurmagomedov is safe.
“I’m looking for three belts,” he said. “I’m looking to do something that’s never been done in this sport. I wanna go down to 155. I wanna go up to 185 middleweight and take the belt. Whitaker hasn’t been that impressive. He got knocked out by choir boy Thompson. Karate, everybody knows that shit don’t work. As far as Khabib, the guy couldn’t finish a real estate on 20 hours notice. That’s sad, man. If that dweeb ever comes up to 170, I’ll rag doll him like the chump he is.”
“He’s not that talented, man,” Covington continued, riffing on Nurmagomedov. “His wrestling doesn’t add up to good wrestlers. He has good pressure, but he’s going against guys, not all American Division I wrestlers who have been wrestling since they were five years old. My hips are completely different, my scrambles and my takedowns. I’m a bigger, better, strong, everything better than him. I’m way more handsome. We all know that. I don’t think that his skills are that good, and they don’t translate up to 170, but that’s why I’ll go to 155 if need be. I’ll meet him in Russia. I’d love to go to Russia and silence that crowd and give the Russian fans something to cry about.”
Would you be interested in seeing Colby Covington fight for the belt at middleweight or lightweight?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/7/2018.