"He's hiding from us!" - Gilbert Burns' manager Ali Abdelaziz on why Colby Covington fight hasn't materialized
Ali Abdelaziz has claimed that Colby Covington is "hiding" from a fight against his client, Gilbert Burns. The famed manager is of the opinion that Covington is scared of fighting Burns since 'Chaos' has not responded to the Brazilian's callout.
Burns recently posted a tweet, to which Abdelaziz replied by stating that Covington is "hiding" from Burns and his team.
Burns lost his fight against former teammate Kamaru Usman last weekend at UFC 258. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' defeated him via TKO in the third round.
'Dourinho' slumped to No.2 in the welterweight rankings after Colby Covington dethroned him from the top spot following his loss to Usman. In a recent interview, Burns said that he now intends to fight Covington, but would also be open to fighting the likes of Stephen Thompson and Michael Chiesa.
"I believe I'll be ready to come back May or June and I want to be right back in the mix, you know and then I know a lot of talks, a lot of things are going on in the division right now... For me, I got Wonderboy right there, I got Colby Covington right there. Colby Covington is the number one guy, if you ask me 'Gilbert, who you want?' I would say Colby but Wonderboy makes sense, Michael Chiesa makes sense," Burns told ESPN.
When Ali Abdelaziz had a heated confrontation with Colby Covington
Kamaru Usman's feud with Colby Covington was already brewing months before they locked horns at UFC 245. A day after Usman claimed the UFC welterweight championship by defeating Tyron Woodley, him and Ali Abdelaziz confronted Covington at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Abdelaziz, who was infuriated by the words Covington had said earlier, had a fuming altercation with 'Chaos' when he spotted him at the resort. Usman followed Abdelaziz and the two ended up having a scuffle with Covington before security barged in to separate them. Covington later referred to Abdelaziz as "terrorist rat".
In September last year, Abdelaziz said he had squashed his beef with Covington after the then United States President Donald Trump intervened to solve their differences.
Covington last fought Tyron Woodley in September 2020, where he put on a dominant performance against the former champ.