Colby Covington and Jon Jones have a long-standing feud that dates back to their days as wrestling teammates at Central Iowa Community College. Since then, the two have seized every opportunity to trash-talk one another.
While Covington is focused on his upcoming UFC Tampa showdown against Joaquin Buckley this Saturday, he’s also keeping an eye on Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion, and his future plans.
"Bones" recently revealed that he’s in discussions with the UFC about returning to action in 2025 following his dominant third-round victory over Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. The question now is who Jones will face in his potential comeback.
Though he’s expressed interest in a fight with reigning light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira, UFC CEO Dana White has suggested that a title unification bout with Tom Aspinall is the more logical option.
Like many who disagree with Jones' stance on dodging Aspinall, Covington didn’t hold back his criticism of Jones at the UFC Tampa media day.
I think Jon needs to stop ducking Tom Aspinall just like he ducked [Francis] Ngannou,” Covington said. “He ducked Ngannou for years, now he’s ducking Aspinall. He doesn’t want to fight the guys he knows he’s going to get his ass beat against. So I don’t think anything special of Jon Jones.
Covington also dismissed Jones’ performance against Miocic, claiming the UFC legend deliberately chose an opponent past his prime.
Miocic is an older fighter who shouldn’t have been in the Octagon with Jones. He was just looking to get paid. So, I don’t think Jon’s performance was anything special,” Covington added.
With Covington preparing for his own fight and Jones plotting a return, the verbal jabs between the two continue to fuel one of the UFC’s longest-running rivalries.
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