UFC welterweight Colby Covington has doubts whether the reigning lightweight champ Islam Makhachev would be making a jump up to 170, but if he does, Covington says a knockout welcome would be waiting for the Russian.
I love the matchup. Makhachev can’t beat me in wrestling: Colby Covington
While Makhachev is expected to face the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush in October, there isn’t much development on what the 155-pound champ’s next move would be after that, and there’s also rumours that he might be moving up to welterweight.
While “Chaos” expresses doubts that Makhachev would even make that jump, if he indeed does, Covington would like to welcome him to the division, and also believes it would be a walk in the park for him.
“It would play out the same way that the guy knocked him out last time he got beat in the UFC Octagon played out. I trained that guy, Adriano (Martins) for that fight. I was telling him the whole time, I was like dude, check right hook, just hit a right hook. He’s not ready for that. He’s not keeping his left hand high. That’s what Adriano did,” said Covington during an interview with LowKick MMA. “Went out there and knocked him out. He’s a southpaw like myself and (Makhachev) doesn’t do good against southpaws. Look how much trouble he was having with that little, short midget from Australia, Volkanovski. Dude, he’s a 145 featherweight and you want to come to 170 now and talk this big game. He knows what would happen, just like his daddy Khabib knew. That’s why Khabib never came to 170. Because he knew King Colby was here. He knew he couldn’t outwrestle me and that’s what those guys from Dagestan do.”
“They try to outwrestle these guys. I’m a way better wrestler and my accolades speak for themselves. Division I All-American national champion. Could have been a freakin’ Olympic champion if I had went for it, but I rather fight in the UFC because it’s the best organization in the world. The matchups great,” he went on. “I love the matchup. Makhachev can’t beat me in wrestling. He can’t beat me in striking and he definitely can’t beat me in jiu-jitsu. It’s a pretty easy matchup for me. I think I dust him inside of three rounds and it would be an easy first title defense and a big one. Champion vs. champion. He’s earned his stripes in this company, but there’s a guy that’s just a little bit better than him and that’s the reason why he ain’t came up to 170 yet.”