Getty Colby Covington & Israel Adesanya
Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington wouldn’t shy away from moving up the middleweight, and he welcomes a fight with 185-pound king Israel Adesanya.
Covington fought for undisputed 170-pound gold earlier this month at UFC 268 but was unable to capture it, losing a unanimous decision to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. “Chaos” has a professional MMA record of 16-3, with two of his losses coming at the hands of Usman.
Although he’s ranked No. 1 in the division, Covington seemingly has a steep hill to climb to get back to a title shot as long as “The Nigerian Nightmare” is on top. So, one option Covington could toy with is a move to middleweight.
Speaking with MMANews.com’s James Lynch, Covington was asked about the division north of 170 pounds. According to Chaos, he used to train with 185 pounders, so he knows what he’s getting into, and believes he has certain advantages over the bigger men.
“Yeah, it’s an option,” Covington said via the outlet. “I used to train with middleweights all the time. I always used to love to train with bigger guys ‘cos I just knew I could wear them out quicker. They’re bigger and they’ve got more muscle and they just wear faster. They’re a lot slower, too. They’re not as quick as welterweights. So, it’s just easier to train with those guys and beat them up.”
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Chaos Said He’ll ‘Destroy’ Any Middleweight, Would Take Israel Adesanya Down & ‘Gas Him Out’
Covington is open to calling middleweight his new home if the “right opportunity presents itself.” During the interview, Chaos claimed he’d “destroy” any fighter at 185 pounds, and that includes “The Last Stylebender,” Israel Adesanya.
“If the right opportunity presents itself, I’ll destroy anybody at middleweight,” Covington told MMA News. “I mean, Stylebender, he can’t wrestle. He’s not a well-rounded fighter, you know. I’d honestly, I’d take him down and gas him out; he wouldn’t be able to stop me. He’s getting taken down by that guy that he fought last fight (Blachowicz). That guy doesn’t even take guys down, he’s never even wrestled; the 205 champ.
“If the right opportunity presents itself man, trust me, I know how good I am. These guys can’t stop me, man. I’ve never lost a round to a middleweight when I used to train with those guys. We’ll see.”
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Adesanya Will Likely Be Scheduled to Rematch Robert Whittaker in Early 2022
GettyRobert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya fighting at UFC 243 in 2019.
The Last Stylebender has successfully defended his UFC championship three times, defeating Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. And up next for the champ will likely be a rematch in the form of Robert Whittaker, the man Adesanya took the middleweight belt from in October 2019.
Since losing to The Last Stylebender at UFC 243, “The Reaper” has rattled off three victories in a row, defeating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum. He’s firmly established as the No. 1 contender and it appears the UFC is planning to book the rematch in the first quarter of 2022.
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Colby Covington Has Strong Take on Fighting Israel Adesanya