Colby Covington says only two fights “make sense” for UFC return

Colby Covington only has two fights in mind for his UFC return.

The former interim welterweight champion is ready to set foot back in the Octagon, but only for two opponents. On Covington’s radar is the current welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, and the former welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley.

In his last UFC appearance, “Chaos” faced Usman in an eagerly anticipated title fight. The 170-pound stars delivered an all-out war, but “The Nigerian Nightmare” defeated Covington by TKO in the fifth round after referee Marc Goddard put a stop to the action. Chaos fell down twice, resulting in Goddard’s decision to intervene, but Covington slammed the decision that he dubbed premature. He wants to rectify his loss and address his unfinished business against the division’s champion in a rematch.

“I want my rematch with ‘Marty Fakenewsman,’ there’s no other fight to make,” Covington told MMA Junkie. “We’ve got unfinished business. The way that last fight went down, everybody knows I was winning that fight, that was my fight until Marc Goddard made a stupid decision to stop the fight when the fight wasn’t even close to being over. I still had five, 10 rounds in me. I could go all day, I don’t get tired.”

Usman is still strongly linked to Jorge Masvidal for his next title defence. If Covington, can’t jump the line and fight the champion in a rematch, he is keen to face Tyron Woodley.

Covington and Woodley have been going back and forth on social media. The pair had even agreed to save the constantly changing UFC 249 card by fighting in the main event. Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje have now been confirmed for the main event, but Covington is still ready to scrap with his rival.

“If I don’t get that fight then the only other fight that would make sense for me is to end Tyron Woodley’s career,” Covington said. “You see him out there broke as (expletive) begging to fight someone, now he’s over on Cameo but you can’t believe anything Woodley says. He’s like ‘Oh, I’m going to fight three times in three weeks.’ Bro, you’re a broke (expletive), you didn’t even fight three times in four years so I think the UFC knows where I stand.

“I want to make the biggest fights happen for the fans, but I’m going to stand firm. I want my rematch, I deserve my rematch. Everybody knows who won that night and give me a level playing field and a competent ref, and that’s a completely different outcome next time.”

Would you prefer to see Colby Covington tangle with Kamaru Usman or Tyron Woodley next? Let us know in the comments below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/30/2020.