Colby Covington isn’t interested in fighting Leon Edwards.
After Khamzat Chimaev was forced to pull out of his March 13 main event against Edwards, Dana White hinted that Covington could be the replacement. It would no doubt be an interesting fight and the winner would likely get a title shot. However, Covington says he isn’t interested in the fight.
“Leon (Edwards) hasn’t earned anything, boys,” Covington said to Submission Radio. “I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated championship business, I’m not in the Leon Scott charity business. This isn’t charity hour, man. I’m fighting at the top of the mountain, I’m fighting the best in the world…
“It’s not my fault this kid hasn’t fought in two years. It’s not my fault this kid – there’s people from England fighting all the time in the pandemic, they’re not scared to fight,” Covington continued. “So, I’m not doing charity for this guy who hasn’t fought in two years. He’s irrelevant, he’s beat a bunch of bums, and I’m not doing charity. This isn’t charity hour, this is f*cking championship f*cking pay-per-view hour.”
If Covington is serious, which it appears he is, it is no doubt disappointing for many MMA fans. The fight is a very intriguing one and made sense for the division. Yet, it appears “Chaos” is only interested in big fights and he doesn’t think Edwards is that.
Covington has not fought since he scored a fifth-round TKO win over Tyron Woodley to return to the win column. Before that, he suffered a fifth-round TKO loss to Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title.
Leon Edwards, meanwhile, has not fought since July of 2019 when he beat Rafael dos Anjos by decision. Since then, he has been holding out for a title shot and the pandemic has also kept him out of the Octagon. He has now been booked three times but all the fights were canceled.