UFC welterweight star Colby Covington believes he's clearly done enough to earn a shot at Israel Adesanya's middleweight title.
Since dropping a second championship shot against reigning 170-pound king Kamaru Usman at UFC 268 last November, Covington has mostly had three names on his lips: Adesanya, Jorge Masvidal, and Dustin Poirier.
At UFC 272 earlier this month, "Chaos" dispatched Masvidal with relative ease, scoring a unanimous decision victory following five rounds of main event action. In his post-fight interview, Covington turned his attention to one of his remaining two targets, unloading his usual insults on former ATT teammate Poirier.
But with "The Diamond" suggesting he'll never share the Octagon with Covington, it's appearing unlikely that the grudge match will come to fruition. Rounding out his list is "The Last Stylebender," but the recent remarks of UFC President Dana White seem to suggest that's also off the table.
During an interview with TMZ Sports, White suggested Covington would have to record wins over a top middleweight contender in order to book a date in the cage with Adesanya.
“I mean, Colby would have to go up and beat [Jared] Cannonier or [Robert] Whittaker or somebody like that to even be in the discussion with a fight with Adesanya.” (h/t Sportskeeda)
Covington Disagrees With White's Stance
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Covington, who's targeting a summer return, discussed his options should Poirier maintain his current attitude towards a matchup with him.
He re-affirmed that a championship clash with Adesanya makes sense. Noting the calls for Usman and the middleweight kingpin to forego their personal relationship to meet in a superfight, Covington claimed he'd be more deserving than "The Nigerian Nightmare" having 'beaten Usman' twice.
"I think I could definitely go up to '85 and fight Adesanya (in the summer)," said Covington. "But I don't know if he's gonna turn around like that. He doesn't have a dance partner right now. I mean, some of the guys they're trying to line him up with is unoriginal. Why could Usman fight him? All the fans want that...I beat Usman twice. Usman sucks, dude. Everybody knew, in Madison Square Garden, I won those last three rounds. It was an easy win for me. Easy decision victory, unanimous.
"So why can't I fight Adesanya? That guy can't stop my wrestling," claimed Covington. "I'll pick him up and drop him on his fucking head. He's a cardio kickboxer. They've got enough cardio kickboxers in women's classes around the US. I can go join one of those. I decided to pick up hard, grueling American wrestling. I don't think Adesanya can stop my American wrestling and I don't think he's that good of a fighter."
At middleweight, Adesanya is currently unbeaten in professional MMA and has defended the 185-pound UFC gold four times. His one blemish in the sport came in an effort to dethrone then-light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz last March. The Pole utilized a heavy wrestling approach to grind out a decision.
Given his own wrestling credentials, "Chaos" believes he'd have no trouble dispatching Adesanya and securing his place on the middleweight throne.
But with Jared Cannonier seemingly next in line following his brutal win against Derek Brunson last month, it seems unlikely the UFC will cave to Covington's higher-weight ambitions anytime soon.
Do you think Colby Covington has earned a shot at Israel Adesanya's middleweight throne?