UFC welterweight Colby Covington has said he’d be open to the idea of fighting rising star Khamzat Chimaev.

In the wake of his defeat to Kamaru Usman, many have been wondering what’s next for Colby Covington. As opposed to moving up or down a weight class, though, Covington has made it clear that he wants to stay at 170 pounds and attempt to work his way back to the title.

When asked by Ariel Helwani about the prospect of fighting the new kid on the block, Khamzat Chimaev, “Chaos” wasn’t shy in saying he’d be open to the idea.

“He’s a joke. He needs to beat someone worthy — someone in the top 5, someone in the top of the rankings, not just fight hand-picked people.” Covington said of Chimaev while speaking with MMA Fighting on Wednesday. “What does he have, four UFC fights? The media loves to rush these kids and these hype jobs. This is fighting, man. People can get seriously hurt from rushing people like that.

“But if you guys want to rush a guy, take some time off of his life and send him for a hospital treatment, then, yeah, the door is open for that. I love doing good business and I love doing business with the UFC. It would be an honor to beat who they want me to beat, and if that’s the name they put in front of me, I can promise you that I’m gonna train extremely hard and I’m gonna show a new skill set the world hasn’t seen yet. You kind of see that from me every fight, I get better every fight. I add new layers to my game, so whoever they try and match me up with next, you’re gonna see those new layers and someone is gonna get seriously hurt.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

Can you see Colby Covington taking a fight against Khamzat Chimaev? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!