UFC welterweight Colby Covington has taken aim at fan-favorite siblings Nick and Nate Diaz, branding himself the real "west coast gangster" over the Stockton natives.
UFC welterweight Colby Covington has taken aim at fan-favorite siblings Nick and Nate Diaz, branding himself the real "west coast gangster" over the Stockton natives.
Despite entering the UFC way back in 2014, Covington is yet to cross paths with either Diaz brother. However, that hasn't stopped him from frequently insulting both men during interviews and interactions. That didn't change when "Chaos" spoke exclusively to MMA News.
Following his second defeat to UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in November, Covington, a former interim titleholder, discussed numerous topics with James Lynch, including his latest setback against "The Nigerian Nightmare," a potential matchup with middleweight king Israel Adesanya, his ongoing rivalry with former teammate Jorge Masvidal, the fall of Conor McGregor, Jon Jones' latest arrest, and a possible clash with Nate Diaz.
Nate currently has just one fight left on his UFC contract. After defeat at the hands of top-five contender Leon Edwards in his last outing, it appeared the Stockton star was on a collision course with surging Brazilian Vicente Luque. "The Silent Assassin" has consistently called Diaz out across the past year, and he was finally met with a response following his first-round submission victory over Michael Chiesa in August.
But with talk of that matchup quietly slipping away since Diaz questioned if there was a issue on Luque's side, it appears the veteran will be setting his sights elsewhere. After a recent back-and-forth with Dustin Poirier on social media, it seemed "The Diamond" would be the target. The pair even appeared to agree to a clash as early as next month.
However, with Diaz citing negotiation issues, that matchup looks to be off the radar for now. But Diaz is certainly not out of options, and Covington made it known he'd even be interested in facing the unranked fan favorite.
"Chaos" told MMA News he'd "annihilate" Nate and send him packing out of the UFC. For that reason, Covington doesn't believe Nate would accept him as the opponent for his final contracted fight. The 33-year-old suggested neither Nick or Nate would accept a clash against their "daddy."
"Yeah, it interests me. But I'm not gonna waste my breath or get my hopes up that that fight is gonna happen," Covington said. "They're never gonna fight me. Those guys, they know who daddy is. They know who runs the west coast. I was born in Sacramento, grew up in Oregon my whole life. I'm the only west coast gangster out of those three names. They're Stockton soy boys. I'm raw American steel-twisted sex appeal.
"I don't think Nate's gonna fight, I don't know what they're gonna do with him. He's only got one fight on his contract. Of course, he's not gonna accept me on the last fight of his contract, I'll annihilate that guy, I'll leave him for, literally, dead, he'll have nothing left in the tank. I know he wants to get out of his UFC contract so he can go make some money elsewhere. No chance any of those guys are fighting me."
The topic then diverted to the older Diaz brother. Nick recently arrived back on the MMA scene with a highly-anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 266. Prior to the September pay-per-view, the 38-year-old hadn't been in action since a 2015 bout with the great Anderson Silva.
After a six-year hiatus, Diaz ran it back with former foe Robbie Lawler. But while their 2004 clash ended in a brutal knockout win for the Stockton native, their meeting 17 years later finished very differently. In a slow and sluggish performance, Diaz failed to recreate his form of old, and chose not to return to his feet after taking a knee in the third round as a result of some clean shots from "Ruthless."
Discussing the result, Covington told MMA News that Diaz's return went exactly as he'd expected. According to the #1-ranked welterweight, the veteran doesn't have the discipline or commitment to make a successful comeback to the sport.
"Exactly what I expected, James. I heard the rumors, the guy's not disciplined, man. Nick Diaz has no discipline. He was a good fighter at one point in his career, at one point in time; he wasn't a great fighter, he was a good fighter, he was a brawler, he was in there, he would stay in there, but the guy let himself go, James. He's in Vegas every week, partying, doing drugs, drinking heavy alcohol, just fucking losing control of his life, man.
"I knew what was going to happen. I knew he was gonna get knocked out by Robbie and that's what happened. Look at his gut, dude. He looks so out of shape, man. That's a retirement body, that's a dad bod, and he should definitely just hang it up. He has a pretty good legacy, it's average, but I don't wanna see that guy get hurt... He couldn't even go three rounds. They went to the third round and he literally just took a knee. He was done. He had nothing left. He came out there and threw everything he had at Robbie, all that weak shit he was throwing. There's nothing behind those punches."
Ultimately, Covington thinks UFC 266 signaled the end of Nick's in-Octagon career, a sentiment shared by many in the combat sports community.
"It's sad to see, man.... He was a talent, but talent can only go so far. You gotta work hard every single day, you gotta stay committed to the grind. You can't cheat the grind, there's no cutting corners in this sport... That guy's completely washed up. His career is absolutely done, and I don't think we should ever be talking about Nick Diaz ever again."
But while Nick is potentially at the end of the road in the sport, Nate will throw down in the UFC cage at least one more time. Given his ongoing toughness and competitive abilities, which saw him nearly knock out the consensus #1 contender Edwards in June, it seems unlikely Nate's active career will come to an end if he chooses to depart MMA's biggest stage.
While the 36-year-old's potential last Octagon dance is unlikely to come against Covington, it appears the former interim titleholder won't be hanging up the phone if Dana White and the UFC come calling.
How do you think a fight between Colby Covington and Nate Diaz would play out?
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