Colby Covington has no intentions of letting anybody take his place as the #1 contender to Kamaru Usman’s welterweight title, and that includes “The Notorious” Conor McGregor.
Following Kamaru Usman’s knockout of Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, it was expected that Colby Covington would have a lot to say in the event’s aftermath. What was not expected, however, was that Conor McGregor would chime in, particularly in the form of staking his claim on the welterweight title to be seized at a later date. Usman took the time to respond to McGregor on social media in a heated back-and-forth, then later dismissed the Irishman as a clout chaser who needs to prove himself the same way actual welterweight contenders need to do.
Polar opposites Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman actually have something in common on this one, because the brash top contender at 170 was sure to articulate why he, too, is not taking the former champ-champ seriously.
“I think it’s laughable. It’s comical. I mean, you just got sparked by Dustin Soyier,” Covington said on a recent appearance on Submission Radio. “ Go ask Dustin Soyier about the times we used to train together. He used to cry. He lived in the gym crying. He told his coach Mike Brown (fake crying), ‘Oh, man, Colby’s so tough. I can’t stop him. Why’s he so good? Why does he use his pace so much? And I quit like a little bitch!’
“So you just got sparked by Dustin Soyier, so sit the fuck down, Conman McGregor. You couldn’t even knock that old man off the stool. How you gonna knock off greatness and the greatest welterweight of all time (gestures to himself)? So I think it’s funny. He’s just trying to put his name in the hat, keep some hype out there like he’s actually a winnable fighter. Dude, the guy has nothing left, man. You made all your money. You’re cashed out. You’re not hungry. We get it, guy. Just go away.”
Part of Covington’s dismissal jibes with comments recently made by lightweight contender Beneil Dariush regarding McGregor’s perceived lack of hunger. One thing McGregor has historically been very hungry for, though, is more gold, as his status as the original champ-champ can verify.
If McGregor is to be taken more seriously than both Covington and Usman are currently doing, then his path to becoming the first two-time champ-champ is clear: defeat Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, capture the lightweight title, and then go up to challenge for the welterweight belt.
By then, Colby Covington may very well be the welterweight champion if things go as he predicts. At which point, we could very well be looking at a champion vs. champion fight between Covington and McGregor, in which the former interim UFC welterweight champion would have to take McGregor quite seriously, even as the two assuredly launch jokes and insults at one another nonstop in what would no doubt be a chaotic fight buildup, to say the least.
Do you think Conor McGregor’s targeting of the UFC welterweight title should be taken more seriously than Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman are doing?
