[autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] plans on becoming champion at UFC 296 then welcoming [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] to welterweight.
Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) challenges welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) in the Dec. 16 pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena.
Lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC), who’s coming off a close title defense against featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284, has hinted at a future welterweight move. He defends his belt in a rematch against Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 on Oct. 21. If Covington dethrones Edwards, he’s not looking at No. 1 contender Belal Muhammad next.
“There’s a lot of big fights after I become undisputed (champion) in December,” Covington told My MMA News. “Conor’s always looming if he wants to come back. I don’t think he’s going to want to fight when he sees the performance I put on. He doesn’t want to get embarrassed in front of the world. He’s a great fighter. He’s done great things – unpredictable. He could do anything at any moment. He’s a dangerous guy, but when he sees what I put on Leon, those guys are going to run from me.
“There’s that little Mongoloid. He’s been talking a little bit saying he wants to come up and fight in a real man’s division because he’s in a little boy’s weight class and I’m talking about Islam Makhachev. He’s fighting in a little man’s weight class. He’s fighting little midgets and he’s barely beating midgets. I mean, split decisions, split draws – it’s just pathetic.”
Edwards is coming off back-to-back wins over Kamaru Usman, but Covington is confident he has the style to beat him.
“It’s a great matchup,” Covington said. “I love fighting southpaws. There’s a reason he’s delaying this matchup. He knows it’s the hardest stylistic fight for him, and for me, it’s just another fight, another big pay-per-view main event. I don’t even remember the last time I fought a f*cking three-round prelim fight like some of these other bums that call out my name.
“I think it’s a great stylistic fight – southpaw to southpaw – and I just don’t think he can keep up with my well-roundedness. He’s going to be guessing the whole time. Am I taking him down? Am I striking? Now I’m a black belt under Sensei Valverde, so my submission skills, my finishing skills, I’m coming to put this dude’s lights out. He ain’t making it 25 minutes come Dec. 16.”
[lawrence-related id=2680685,2668414,2663107]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.