"My question becomes this” - Daniel Cormier believes Colby Covington will test Leon Edwards in ways that no one else has
Colby Covington and Leon Edwards are set to do battle in the main event of UFC 296 in December for the welterweight title.
Edwards is coming off of his first successful title defense, a unanimous decision win against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286.
'Rocky' showcased an improved ability to stop Usman from taking him down during their second title fight, something that he was unable to do at UFC 278, where he defeated 'The Nigerian Nightmare' via KO late in Round Five to win the belt.
But Leon Edwards' improved grappling defense may not help him as much against Colby Covington as it did against Kamaru Usman, according to Daniel Cormier.
'DC' is confident that 'Chaos' will test the welterweight champion in ways that Usman could not. Cormier, an accomplished wrestler himself, has a wealth of knowledge about grappling.
During a recent YouTube video, Cormier broke down the UFC 296 main event, and said this:
"Leon Edwards' improvements have been so drastic that it's hard to imagine a time when he couldn't have wrestled, or where he would get taken down over and over again. His jump between the first Usman [title] fight and the second fight, was really impressive. But then my question becomes this, it's one thing to fight a wrestler, it's another thing to fight a wrestler like Colby Covington... he is one of the hardest working guys you'll ever meet"
Watch the video below from 6:25:
Colby Covington calls for a welterweight clash with Islam Makhachev
Colby Covington appears incredibly confident that he will defeat Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December. So much so that 'Chaos' has already called out the man he would like to defend the welterweight title against first, should he defeat 'Rocky'.
Covington was recently interviewed by James Lynch, where he took aim at Islam Makhachev. According to 'Chaos', the lightweight champion has expressed interest in a matchup with Colby Covington at welterweight.
The former interim champion believes that whilst Makhachev is a good fighter, he is nowhere near as good as the man he is most compared to, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Covington said this:
"A lot of holes in [Makhachev's] game. He's talked a big game, trying to ride the coat-tails of Khabib's success and what he was able to accomplish. He's not Khabib. It's not the same thing... He keeps talking a big game over to Hunter Campbell, Dana White and the UFC, so there's no telling what's gonna happen. He's said some things behind the scenes, but let's see if he's actually a man of his word."
Watch the video below from 15:37: