"He got taken down by a guy that has never wrestled" - Colby Covington takes a dig at Israel Adesanya
Colby Covington has taken a dig at Israel Adesanya's defeat to Jan Blachowicz. 'Chaos' slammed the UFC middleweight champion for allowing himself to be taken down and controlled by a fighter who has "never wrestled in his life."
Speaking at UFC 268 media day, Covington claimed he was interested in conquering multiple divisions in the world's biggest MMA promotion. The former interim champ is scheduled to face welterweight king Kamaru Usman in a rematch this weekend at Madison Square Garden.
When asked by a reporter if he intends to pursue a second title in another weight class if he's victorious on Saturday, Colby Covington claimed he could definitely defeat the champions at both lightweight and middleweight. In terms of a move to 185 pounds, 'Chaos' believes Adesanya has many weaknesses.
"Absolutely, I see both weight classes is very open for me. The guy in middleweight [Israel Adesanya] can't wrestle. He got taken down by a guy [Blachowicz] that has never wrestled in his life. And in the lower weight class you know that guy [Charles Oliveira] is a scrub too."
Watch Colby Covington speak during UFC 268 media day below:
Covington has already fought Usman once in the past. The duo squared off at UFC 245 in December 2019. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' won the encounter via TKO in the fifth and final round of the main event.
Colby Covington is a former interim UFC welterweight champion
Colby Covington holds a 16-2 win-loss record in his professional MMA career so far. He was on a seven-fight winning streak before losing to Usman.
Covington's latest UFC victory came against former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley via TKO last September. He will return to the octagon after more than a year this Saturday.
Colby Covington surprised a lot of people when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos to become an interim Champion.
Colby only lost one round on the Global Scorecard.
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'Chaos' won the interim UFC welterweight championship in 2018. He overcame former lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos during the co-main event of UFC 225 to claim the belt. However, he was stripped of the championship due to nasal surgery, which led to his inactivity.