"He's doing the Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez situation" - John McCarthy and Josh Thomson discuss why Colby Covington is open to fighting Khamzat Chimaev

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Colby Covington (left), Khamzat Chimaev (right) [Image courtesy: @colbycovmma and @khamzat_chimaev]

Colby Covington is steadfast in his pursuit of another welterweight title shot despite his recent unanimous decision loss to Kamaru Usman.

While there are a number of options on the table for the outspoken American, it appears that Covington has his sights set on Khamzat Chimaev.

Chimaev, the undefeated sensation who is currently in the 11th spot in the UFC welterweight rankings, may seem like an illogical option for Colby Covington. However, John McCarthy and Josh Thomson have a theory on why Covington is open to fighting the rising star. In a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy and Thomson discussed how the Chimaev fight favors Covington. McCarthy said:

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"I think Colby Covington is looking at it and he's keeping his eye on things and saying that you might want to get him [Chimaev] early in his UFC career, touch him up and try to get past him so you can say that 'I've dealt with him and there's no reason to fight him again'. And that might be a good theory, a good way of looking at it. But it also might be that you are not giving that guy enough credit. He's damn good. He can wrestle with you, no doubt, and he's a better striker than Colby Covington. So, it's hard to say if his cardio can match Colby. And that may be what Colby Covington is looking at - hey, I can push this guy and push him to break.

Josh Thomson compared Colby Covington's willingness to fight Khamzat Chimaev to the Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez situation. Thomson said:

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"You're going to have to take that chance and I think he's doing the Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez situation. He's trying to jump on him soon, jump on him early. We just talked to Sean Brady and he was saying that he wasn't prepared for all the interviews that week, the adrenaline and the little jitters are real when you get in there in your first big time slot and fighting somebody in that top five-top six position. Is that going to happen to Chimaev? He [Covington] knows how to deal with that pressure and deal with it all. Will Chimaev deal with it or will he try and be too much of a showman and go out there blow his wad in the first round and in the second round then starts to slow down? Then Colby Covington just runs away with the fight."

You can catch the full episode of the Weighing In podcast below:

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Colby Covington claims he will take over the welterweight division when Kamaru Usman retires

In a recent interview with MMA News, Colby Covington claimed that he believes Kamaru Usman will retire from the sport within the next year, while he continues to flourish and get better at what he does. 'Chaos' also said that he is yet to hit his prime as a fighter.

Catch Colby Covington's full interview with MMA News below:

Colby Covington is currently 0-2 against 'The Nigerian Nightmare' and 16-3 in his overall MMA career. While he lost a hard-fought battle against Usman in his latest fight, he is considered by many to be the second best fighter in the division.

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