Colby Covington has already picked next opponent ahead of Leon Edwards UFC title fight
Colby Covington is set to return to the octagon this weekend when he'll face Leon Edwards for the welterweight title while already eyeing up his next opponent
Colby Covington will face Leon Edwards at UFC 296 this Saturday in Las Vegas for the welterweight title after 18 months away from the octagon - but he's already eyeing up his first title defence. Covington is talking extremely confidently of beating the English champion, who defeated Kamaru Usman via a dramatic head kick in the fifth round, before defending his belt against Usman in a rematch.
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But despite his lay-off and coming into the fight as the underdog, Covington has consistently stated he will win on Saturday evening - before potentially eyeing a shot at become a champion across two weight divisions while calling out middleweight champ Sean Strickland.
In a recent interview with CODE Sports, Covington said: "He's (Strickland) pretending to be everything he wishes I was. I'd love to slap Sean Strickland around. He's just a pathetic excuse of a human being, the guy has literally no fricking IQ. The guy's so f****** stupid. The things he says, he needs to get his mouth wired shut and I'm the guy to do it. The UFC knows I'm the one that can end these guys that hate the company and they hate the world, so I would love to fight Sean Strickland."
Strickland won the title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in a huge upset, winning by a unanimous decision, and will defend it on January 20 at UFC 297 against Dricus Du Plessis - with Edwards himself wanting to face the winner should he beat Covington.
The middleweight division is brimming with contenders eager to challenge Strickland, leaving it uncertain if Covington or Edwards would be able to bypass the likes of Israel Adesanya, Khamzat Chimeav and Robert Whittaker.
When the idea of facing another contender like ex-middleweight champ Whittaker was proposed, Covington was not so keen.
He said: "No, that ship has sailed. Robert, he lost the title and then he got beat in a contender fight so he's just not relevant anymore, he doesn't make sense for me.
"I'm the top of the division, I'm about to be welterweight champion of the world, so I only want the biggest and best fights the UFC has to offer and I know they wouldn't even waste my time and waste their time to try and put that fight together."
Covington has not fought since his win over his most fierce rival in Jorge Masvidal, with the two former training partners having legal issues after the latter was accused of allegedly assaulting the former after their fight.
Despite his layoff after that bout, Covington wants to remain active and will take on anyone the UFC asks him to.
He said: "This is a business and they want to make money, so it's all about making the biggest and best fights for the fans and for the UFC. Whatever the UFC says, they know I'm a yes man, I'm a company man, whatever they say, Colby Covington will agree on."
