Gilbert Burns tvingades hoppa av UFC 251 på grund av att testat positivt för COVID-19. Jorge Masvidal befinner sig just nu i samtal om att möta mästaren Kamaru Usman men flera hinder återstår innan något kan skrivas på. Nu ger sig Usmans senaste motståndare Colby “Chaos” Covington in i leken och vill hoppa in nästa helg.
UFC 251 kommer äga rum på Yas Island i Abu Dhabi den 11 juli och alle fighters måste genomgå rigorösa coronatester innan och under resan. Det är därför oerhört bråttom att hitta en ersättare. Covington säger nu till Submission Radio att han anmält sig som frivillig att fightas nästa helg:
Last night I opened up my Twitter and I’m looking at our great President’s tweets and being at Mount Rushmore and all the festivities of America’s birthday and celebrating the fourth of July. And all of a sudden, my timeline starts filling up. ‘Colby, save the day!’ and I see that dirty Dilbert has the ‘Rona. And then it only made sense to put my name in the hat.
Covington säger att han hoppas att UFC kommer acceptera erbjudandet men att diskussionerna med arbetsgivaren varit ytliga än så länge.Han tror dock inte Masvidal kommer att gå matchen istället för honom:
There’s been some small discussions – nothing concrete. And I think they’re scrambling, they’re trying to figure out what they’re gonna do. But they can’t do, they can’t put ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal out there. The guy’s had the last six months to step up to the fight, and all of a sudden on a week’s notice he wants to accept to fight? I mean, we can’t neglect the truth. Jorge doesn’t want to fight. That Shia LaBeouf-looking (expletive), he just wants to go to some Spanish island and disappear with some soap opera stars and play dodgeball. He doesn’t want to fight, he’s a clout chaser. So, give the real man what the people want to see.
Covington, som fick en käkfraktur i sin senaste match mot Usman, hoppas revanschera sig för TKO-förlusten och tror sig utklassa mästaren i denna gång:
I see me beating Marty Fakenewsman like a drum. It won’t even be competitive. The last fight, I made so many mistakes. I wasn’t at my best with the food poisoning going in. Obviously the ref, with the incompetent calls. I would have finished him in the second round with that liver kick if he didn’t call a fake nut shot. I would have finished him when he’s calling fake eye pokes, you know, the hits to the back of the head, the bad calls.
It’s not going to be competitive. I’ve made a lot of adjustments in my game. I’ve been working very hard on some little mistakes that I made in the last fight, just keeping my hands up and doing a better job of that. And this time it’s going to be completely different. He’s not gonna get in my corner audio and then have a second sense of life and be like, ‘’Oh, man, I can actually win this fight because maybe Colby’s injured.’ So, it’s going to be domination from start to finish, and I’m gonna beat his ass from pillar to post.
Tror att Usman är rädd för att brottas
Covington säger att han tror Usman var rädd för att hamna i en brottningsmatch med honom. Han säger sig nu ha slipat på en ny taktik för att blottlägga Usmans svagheter:
I learned a ton about him and had so many takeaways. He’s scared to wrestle. He does not want to get into a wrestling exchange with me because he knows happens. He’s gonna gas out, he’s not going to be able to keep that stamina, and the muscles are gonna fill up in his blood and he’s not gonna be able to strike. So, I made some big adjustments in my game that I’ve been working every single day, and that’s why I’ve been saying that I want to come out and show these adjustments. I want to show Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington 2.0. This is ‘Colby Covington Incorporated’ now, and we are officially open for business.
Covington har 15-2 i professionellt record.
