Colby Covington called out for inactivity by UFC veteran
Colby Covington has fought once a year since 2019 and last competed in March 2022. The UFC welterweight contender has finally been called out by Josh Thomson for his inactivity.
Thomson is a former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC fighter. He now operates as an analyst for Bellator MMA. During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, hosted by Thomson and 'Big' John McCarthy, the UFC veteran labeled Covington a "placeholder" in the division.
Thomson said this:
"You have guys that are just kind of placeholders like Colby Covington. Now I like Colby, but at some point you're going to have to defend that number 2 or number 1 spot. So that's gonna have to happen soon. You're coming up on a year time [since he last fought]."
Watch the podcast episode below:
Josh Thomson believes that Colby Covington should be forced to defend his No.2 spot in the welterweight rankings and cannot expect to wait for a third title shot.
'Chaos' previously fought Kamaru Usman for the title on two occasions, and was defeated both times.
However, reports suggest that the alleged attack launched on Covington by Jorge Masvidal last year has caused 'Chaos' to remain sidelined. Having claimed to have suffered brain damage as a result of the incident, 'Chaos' has taken a step back from fighting during the ongoing legal proceedings.
A fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington has been rumored, but fans await confirmation of the highly anticipated matchup.
Jorge Masvidal blasts Colby Covington over ongoing legal situation
Jorge Masvidal allegedly attacked Colby Covington in Miami last year over some comments made by 'Chaos' directed at the 'BMF' titleholder's family.
Masvidal last fought in March 2022 against Covington, and a fight with Gilbert Burns was recently announced for UFC 287 in April.
'Gamebred' has been in the midst of a lawsuit for the past 10 months, and recently appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to shed light on his experience. He explained why he has taken a step back from fighting over the past year.
Masvidal blasted Covington, saying:
"Injuries and felonies and lawsuits and a bunch of crazy s**t. I just didn't want to go into a fight with all this outside f**king bulls**t on my head... He [Covington] is a little b**ch, basically. That's the only thing. His blood type came back 'super b**ch.' I got these court cases and s**t, man. I don't know what's going on. I can't really talk about it too much because my trial's coming up and I can get in trouble, but all I can say is Colby's a f**king b**ch."
Watch the interview below: