Colby Covington isn’t impressed with Sean Strickland’s shtick, and would ‘love to slap UFC middleweight champion around’ after UFC 296 title win.
“Chaos” has become as well-known for his headline-grabbing quotes as he has his impressive in-cage accomplishments over the past few years, the combination of which has positioned him for another crack at a welterweight title when he challenges Leon Edwards at UFC 296 this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Ahead of that grudge match, Colby Covington spoke to CODE Sports, who asked the fighter for his thoughts on another fighter with a devil-may-care attitude on the mic, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
“He’s pretending to be everything he wishes I was,” Colby Covington said.
“I’d love to slap Sean Strickland around. He’s just a pathetic excuse of a human being, the guy has literally no fricking IQ. The guy’s so f****** stupid. The things he says, he needs to get his mouth wired shut and I’m the guy to do it. The UFC knows I’m the one that can end these guys that hate the company and they hate the world, so I would love to fight Sean Strickland.”
Strickland has developed a reputation for saying whatever he wants in interviews and on social media, which has occasionally ruffled feathers even as his popularity has grown. His rise was punctuated by a stunning five-round, title-winning performance against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 and he is set to defend that title on Jan. 20 at UFC 297 against Dricus Du Plessis.
The middleweight division has no shortage of contenders who would love to take their shot at Strickland, so it’s unclear if Colby Covington would be able to jump the line if he defeated Edwards and then immediately moved up. When it was suggested that he face another contender like former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, Covington wasn’t receptive.
“No, that ship has sailed,” Colby Covington said. “Robert, he lost the title and then he got beat in a contender fight so he’s just not relevant anymore, he doesn’t make sense for me. I’m the top of the division, I’m about to be welterweight champion of the world, so I only want the biggest and best fights the UFC has to offer and I know they wouldn’t even waste my time and waste their time to try and put that fight together.
“This is a business and they want to make money, so it’s all about making the biggest and best fights for the fans and for the UFC. Whatever the UFC says, they know I’m a yes man, I’m a company man, whatever they say, Colby Covington will agree on.”