"I don't think he'd get near him" - Brad Riddell reacts to Colby Covington saying he'd take Israel Adesanya down and gas him out

Brad Riddell (left), Israel Adesanya (center), and Colby Covington (right) [Left photo via @bradquakeriddell on IG]

Up-and-coming UFC lightweight Brad Riddell laughed off Colby Covington's bold proclamation that he could outwrestle middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Riddell recently caught up with Andrew Whitelaw of Sportskeeda MMA to talk about his upcoming clash against fellow prospect Rafael Fiziev at UFC Fight Night: Aldo vs. Font. During the interview, Riddell shot down the notion that Covington would stand a chance against his City Kickboxing teammate and compatriot:

"Nah. Good luck. I don't think he'd get near him to take him down," Riddell said of Covington's comments. "Men much bigger than him haven't had much success. The only guy that had success was much, much bigger than Israel. So I don't think Colby is going to offer him much. I think it'll be a pretty quick night in the office for Izzy."

Check out our exclusive interview with Brad Riddell:

Covington recently told MMA News that he's open to a move to middleweight after falling short in his quest to become the welterweight champ. He also vowed to "destroy anybody at middleweight" and added he could take Adesanya down and gas him out.

Brad Riddell on fighting his 'friend' Rafael Fiziev

Brad Riddell is gearing up for a showdown against Rafel Fiziev, his former training partner at Tiger Muay Thai. The Kiwi fighter revealed that he didn't really want to fight someone he considers a friend but there was no other choice. According to the No.12-ranked UFC lightweight:

"We don't really have another option to fight somebody in the rankings. It was either that, wait, or maybe fight somebody unraked. So we decided to fight each other. It wasn't too complicated for us. We didn't want to but here we are."

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On paper, Brad Riddell vs. Rafael Fiziev are evenly matched. Both men are 10-1 in their professional MMA careers and are roughly the same age. Unfortunately, only one of them will leave the octagon with the win, come fight night.

Watch Brad Riddell vs. Rafael Fiziev in UFC Fight Night - Font vs. Aldo LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English) & SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels on 5th December 2021 from 8:30 AM IST