Over the last few days, there has been a tidal wave of buzz surrounding a possible welterweight title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and long-time lightweight contender Nate Diaz at UF 219. While this possible showdown has generated a flood of excitement, however, there are plenty of people who believe it’s the wrong choice, as Diaz has hardly earned a welterweight title shot. File surging welterweight contender Colby Covington into that group.

“It’s a joke, man,” Colby Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “What’s Nate Diaz’s record at welterweight? He doesn’t even have the 25% win ratio. I mean, he got his shit beat by Dong Hyun Kim. You saw what I did to Dong Hyun Kim. I completely destroyed him and outclassed him. So, Nate’s a small 55-er. He doesn’t belong at 170. You know, whatever. If he gets to fight, good for him, man. I’m still gonna be here. I’m still gonna be the number one contender, and I’m still gonna get my belt next, so… [Tyron] can only run and hide for as long as he can. But, at the end of the day, I’m still gonna be here, and I’m not going anywhere. I am the best, and I cannot be stopped right now.”

Covington then assessed Nate Diaz’s chances in a possible fight with the much bigger Tyron Woodley. Unsurprisingly, he’s not giving the Stockton native much of a chance.

“I don’t really give him a chance, because, you know, he hasn’t shown any chances at 170,” Covington said. “He didn’t beat anybody, you know. He got beat up by everybody, you know. Dong Hyun Kim beat the (expletive) out of him. Roy MacDonald beat the (expletive) out of him. He’s a small 155, you know. And he’s at the end of his career, anyway. So, it doesn’t really make sense. I don’t even know why he would go up, you know. It must be paying him at least a couple million, you know, $5 million or something.”

“I respect Nate Diaz,” Covington continued. “He’s a great fighter. He’s had a great career in the UFC. He’s a gamer. He’s tough as nails. But, as far as in the Octagon, I don’t respect him. I mean, the guy sucks, man. He’s got a good gas tank. He’s beaten a lot of guys just off gas, you know, just off wearing guys out, you know? But, as far as a fighter, you know? He doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s not a great striker. He’s not a powerful guy. He’s not … I mean, he’s a pretty good grappler, like, jiu jitsu-wise. But, wrestling nullifies that. But, you know, he’s just, he doesn’t belong at welterweight. You know, he’s a great lightweight. That’s what I’m trying to say. He’s not a good welterweight. I don’t know. It’s a joke if he gets the fight.”

At the end of the day, however, Covington isn’t sure there’s any reason to believe this fight will actually happen.

“Honestly, I really think Tyron’s bluffing,” he said. “I wanna call Tyron out on his bluff because, how do you know he’s in negotiations? You know, has the UFC said that? Or is that Tyron feeding the media lies? Because Tyron loves to feed the media lies…”

What do you think of Colby Covington’s take on a possible showdown between Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 16/11/2017.