Colby Covington has jibed at reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. A former interim UFC welterweight champion, Covington has labeled the current middleweight kingpin as a low-IQ individual.
Sean Strickland’s most recent fight transpired earlier this month (September 2023). It witnessed him capture the UFC middleweight title by dominantly defeating UFC megastar and then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision.
In a recent interview with James Lynch, Colby Covington was asked about the legendary ‘Izzy’s’ upset defeat against Strickland. Covington responded by suggesting that anything is possible in the sport of MMA and in the UFC organization. ‘Chaos’ indicated the beauty of the sport is that anyone can win on a given day.
He opined that Adesanya likely didn’t train hard enough, had an off night, overlooked Strickland, and ended up losing. The welterweight star insinuated that ‘Izzy’ has been “getting a little comfortable up there,” is bagging lucrative paychecks, and isn’t as hungry anymore.
The 35-year-old implied that Sean Strickland’s win has opened up the path for other middleweights to capture the 185-pound title, as he believes Strickland is the easiest fighter to beat at middleweight. Alluding to ‘Tarzan’s’ past defeats, Covington hinted at possibly fighting Strickland for the middleweight belt:
“So, that [Strickland] is another fight. That could be the next fight as well, James. I might go up to middleweight, steal that middleweight strap. Champ, champ!”
James Lynch chimed in by implying that Sean Strickland and Colby Covington appear to share similar socio-political values and are both outspoken. ‘Chaos’ disagreed and lambasted ‘Tarzan’ for his misogynistic comments. Covington said:
“Outspoken in the most, just obnoxious manner, and just belligerent, and just so low-IQ, bro. The guy has no wits. I mean, he just says some of the most egregious nasty stuff. And I can’t identify with anything with that guy. So, he said some really stupid things about women. And I respect women.”
“I think it’s equality out there. And everybody shouldn’t be entitled to someone. It’s not, ‘Oh, if they’re a woman, or what the color of their skin is…’ It’s about who’s the most qualified for a job. He’s an idiot. He’s even a f**king weaker fighter. He got lucky that ‘Izzy’ cashed out already.”
Watch Covington discuss the topic at 26:37 in the video below:
What’s next for UFC stars Colby Covington and Sean Strickland?
The UFC recently announced that welterweight champion Leon Edwards has been booked to defend his title against Colby Covington in the headlining matchup of UFC 296 on December 16, 2023. In his interview with Lynch, Covington emphasized that he’d like to pursue double-champ status by going after the middleweight title after beating Edwards.
Meanwhile, newly-crowned UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland’s next opponent and comeback date haven’t been officially announced yet. UFC CEO Dana White initially expressed interest in booking an immediate title rematch between Strickland and Adesanya. However, White later hinted that the UFC could book ‘Tarzan’ to defend his title against other contenders instead.