Khamzat Chimaev believes he has a good chance of winning against Colby Covington. Even though Covington is a top-ranked fighter and has had two fights for titles, Chimaev is sure that he could easily defeat him if they fought each other.
UFC’s Dana White said that Covington will face champion Leon Edwards next, which was a shock to Chimaev. Chimaev had mentioned earlier that Covington wouldn’t fight him, but Covington denied it.
On Wednesday, Chimaev reiterated his accusation on The MMA Hour as well as predicted how the fight between him and Covington would turn out.
Chimaev said he reacted like Covington was lying when asked about it. The UFC and Chimaev had called him four times to have a fight with Colby, but for some reason nothing happened. He made sure to let everyone know that he wanted the fight by posting pictures on Instagram and tweeting about it. Many people don’t like Colby because of how much he lies, but they still want to see him fight.
I know that if we fight, it’ll be easy for me. I’m much better at grappling and wrestling than him, plus my punches are harder. He thinks his cardio will help him but it won’t because he’s too small. Plus, he only talked about fighting me when our boss said I was stepping up but why didn’t he talk about it before that? You see what I mean?
Chimaev said that even though he didn’t sign any paper, he verbally agreed to fight Covington several times. Chimaev has never lost in a match, and the most recent one happened in September where he beat Kevin Holland by finishing him off in round one. Even though he was supposed to fight against Nate Diaz, Chimaev had difficulty making weight so they decided to lower the weight class instead.
Chimaev was supposed to fight Covington last year, but figured that the legal troubles between Covington and Jorge Masvidal might have prevented this from happening. Earlier this March, Masvidal was charged with bad crimes like attacking Covington in Miami outside of a restaurant.
I think the reason why he haven’t accepted my challenge might have something to do with his troubles with Masvidal. I’m not completely sure, but it could be that he wanted to make money using a police connection for some reason.
It looks like Covington is going to go straight to the top of the welterweight division even if he hasn’t fought in the past year, since he won his last match against Masvidal in UFC 272. Chimaev isn’t stressed by the possibility of facing off with Edwards and Covington, because as long as there’s some good money coming his way then he’s happy. He hopes that if he keeps on winning, people will eventually have to take notice of him.
“I don’t care about the belt, I just want to make money and be happy. I will never lose a fight, so even if they don’t give me the belt, I’ll still be the best fighter in the world without one.”
