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UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has claimed to have thrown his name in the hat to face the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov on short notice next month.
Mixed martial arts' leading promotion is scrambling for a new main event to close out its pay-per-view schedule for 2024. That's after the withdrawal of UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad from the Las Vegas-held UFC 310 on Dec. 7.
"Remember the Name" was scheduled to put his 170-pound belt on the line for the first time opposite Rakhmonov, but a severe bone infection has forced him out.
Since then, "Nomad" has outlined his hopes to remain on next month's numbered card in competition for interim gold. Among the possible opponents, the Kazakh has specifically pointed to Kamaru Usman as the most likely.
And according to a man who knows "The Nigerian Nightmare" well, those plans are firmly in motion, and have even stopped him from stepping up to the plate.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Covington addressed his absence from the Octagon and suggested a comeback in the first quarter of 2025 is likely.
He did, however, claim that fans could have seen him extremely soon had the UFC accepted his apparent offer to save the day at UFC 310.
I offered (to replace Muhammad). I told the UFC that I was willing to step up to the plate. ... They know they can call me on a week's notice and I'm stepping up to the plate," Covington said. "I would love to save the show and put on a good show for the fans. They pay their hard-earned money for big mega fights, they need a mega fight, that’s not a mega fight. They need someone who is going to put asses in seats and entertain people. So, I was excited. I wanted the fight and I asked for it but I think they have other plans.
And had that come to fruition, "Chaos" doesn't think he'd have had much trouble dispatching of Rakhmonov — something he expects to prove down the line.
I can walk him down and pressure him and he’s not going to like my pressure. He doesn’t do very well with southpaws," Covington explained. "We saw how he did with the busboy Geoff Neal. That was a very competitive fight. He hasn’t fought a top contender yet. He has fought some gatekeepers of the division, some guys on the cusp of the top 10. But he’s never fought a champion like me and a guy who’s going to come at him for five straight rounds and just walk him down.
I match up well, he stands very tall. I don’t see anything special with him. He has some good submissions, he’s slick, but that’s when he can control the wrestling. He’s not going to control the wrestling on me," Covington continued. "I think I can beat him pretty easily and I think it’s a favorable fight, and it’s a fight I win in the future whether he wins or loses in December.
Whether or not his claim is true has been quickly debated in the MMA community, with many suggesting that he's simply capitalizing on an opportunity knowing that different plans are already in the works for Rakhmonov.
Either way, the American is seemingly eyeing a 2025 return. During the same interview, he put his absence this year down to his work on the campaign trail prior to Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election this week.