Colby Covington "super intrigued" by potential five-round Khamzat Chimaev fight - "He's not as good as everyone thinks he is"
Colby Covington recently made a recent appearance on The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast. During it, he touched on countless topics, including a potential matchup with Khamzat Chimaev.
The undefeated Chechen has been a top star in the UFC for some time now. Unfortunately, his skill level has been called into question.
The former interim welterweight champion has opined that 'Borz' is not as good a fighter as he is often assumed to be. He specifically believes that Chimaev's cardio cannot stand up to the demands of elite competition over five rounds, which is something that Covington wants to test:
"In a five-round fight, I would be super intrigued by that fight. I always told them I want this guy in a main event. I don't think he can last. His cardio doesn't look that good. His last fight he fought Usman at 185 [pounds] on one week's notice and I thought Usman won the fight. He landed more strikes."
While Covington did credit Chimaev for being able to outwrestle Usman, he felt that it amounted to little as 'Borz' failed to deal any serious damage or secure a submission, especially as Usman fought injured:
"He [Chimaev] came out the first round, he wrestled him and he didn't do any damage, and then the second and third round he was just coasting to a victory, so you know, I think he's going to get exposed soon. He doesn't have good cardio and, you know, he's not as good as everybody thinks he is."
Check out Colby Covington talking about fighting Khamzat Chimaev (14:15):
'Chaos' isn't the only one to express doubts about Chimaev's cardio, with some labeling the unbeaten Chechen a one-round wonder.
Khamzat Chimaev has been linked to Colby Covington in the past
Both fighters are at different points in their respective careers now.
Khamzat Chimaev is scheduled to face former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a potential title eliminator. Meanwhile, Colby Covington has just lost his third welterweight title fight.
At one point, however, they were linked to a potential bout.
Chimaev dismissed Covington's skills as a fighter, claiming that 'Chaos' had nothing to threaten him with, neither wrestling nor striking.
Now that they are in different divisions, it is unlikely they will ever be matched up, especially with Chimaev's past weigh-in failure at 170 pounds.