Colby Covington finally returns to action later this month to face Joaquin Buckley in the UFC Tampa main event and he has been bizarrely targeted by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
After losing to Leon Edwards in extremely disappointing fashion last December, Colby Covington didn't fight all of 2024 as he suffered a foot injury and waited for the perfect time to return.
Appropriately, 'Caos' return comes just a week after current welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was set to make his first title defense at UFC 310, but withdrew due to injury.
Shavkat Rakhmonov further claimed that despite Covington claiming he would step in to fight him, he turned down the fight offer along with several other 170 pounders.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Colby Covington slams Islam Makhachev for being a 'weight bully'
Of course, the former interim welterweight champion has been extremely outspoken throughout his UFC career, taking aim at several fighters both above and below him at weight.
Ahead of his fight against Edwards, Covington claimed he fights at his natural weight because he knows he is 'the best fighter in the world', taking aim at Islam Makhachev for being a 'weight bully'.
“Let me know who's going to eat like that seven days after a fight, no one. I'm not losing weight though, I'm a real fighter… I'm not a weight bully like Islam Makhachev, who has to cut all that weight to have an advantage over midgets and beat up those guys, so that's why I'm I'm the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet,” Covington said on an episode of UFC 296 embedded.
This isn't the first time Covington has joined the Dagestan team, as he has previously said the same thing about Khabib Nurmagomedov, claiming that he and Makhachev “squeezed chromosomes out of their bodies during their weight cut.”
Islam Makhachev Attacks Colby Covington Over His 'Weight Bullying' Claims
However, just a few weeks after his highly anticipated return to action, the lightweight champion has clapped back at Covington, criticizing him for his comments.
“First, let's describe who Colby is. A man who cannot prove anything with his fights, but tries to be known with his mouth. This is what he does. He doesn't talk about fighters who are not in the top 15,” Makhachev told Match TV.
“He talks about fighters who have achieved a lot to gain fame. I think he's one of the masters of bullshit, but it's not true that he doesn't lose weight. Everyone reduces weight.
“For example, Kamaru Usman weighs over 90 kg, he is huge. I don't weigh 86 kg. My maximum weight when I train is 82-83 kg. (His comments don't bother me), why should it bother me? It would be understandable if it was someone (who is a good fighter), but if someone cannot fight normally but still talks about me, it doesn't bother me,” Makhachev added.
Islam Makhachev goes OUT on Colby Covington 😳
“[Colby is] a man who cannot prove anything with his fights, but tries to be known with his mouth.”
🎥MatchTV #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/sjfCYoKwXm
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 4, 2024
View Tweet
The lightweight champion has consistently expressed his desire to eventually move up to welterweight to challenge for another title and is likely hoping that Covington has a career resurgence so they can potentially fight each other in the future.
Related posts
Comments