NEWARK, N.J. – Colby Covington needs more than a soundbyte to believe he’ll get the next shot at UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
“I want to see something in writing,” Covington, the former interim champ, told MMA Junkie on Wednesday in advance of a pivotal headliner against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5.
UFC president Dana White recently told reportersthat Covington (14-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is “next up” after volunteering to take on Lawler (28-13 MMA, 13-7 UFC) in Saturday night’s headliner at Prudential Center.
Color the Trump-loving welterweight skeptical.
“It’s not nice to hear (White say that), because nothing’s guaranteed in this sport, and we all know that,” Covington said. “I’m not going to believe anything until I’m locked in that cage with somebody.
“Until then, we know what’s happened. I’ve been down this road before. I’ve been promised many times. I’m all about promises made, promises kept. But I can’t say the same for everyone else in this business.”
Just five months ago, Covington threatened to take the UFC to court if the promotion didn’t give him a title shot. The 31-year-old American Top team fighter was stripped of the interim title last September after he turned down a title fight with then-champ Tyron Woodley. Covington said the UFC’s own doctors declined to clear him for the fight because he was scheduled to undergo nasal surgery.
In subsequent interviews, White said Covington lost his contender status because he passed on a title fight. But following this past Saturday’s UFC 240, he changed his tune on Covington’s status.
White said Covington “stepped up” to fight Lawler. Covington’s longtime manager, Dan Lambert, said the UFC needed to fill a gap in marketable headliners for UFC on ESPN 5 and added the promotion’s offer was more of a “demand” than a request.
Covington has since reframed the Lawler fight as a chance to defend the title he never lost against the “last true champion.” He said he doesn’t need to fight Usman, who’s expected to return at the end of the year after an injury layoff.
“It is what it is,” Covington said. “Business goes on. You can’t get frustrated or emotional about this, and that’s the best thing about what I bring to the table. I don’t bring emotions to the table. I don’t have feelings. I don’t care what people think of me.
“I’m going to keep proving and showing my worth to this company, and this whole sport of MMA, that I’m the biggest draw, and people want to see me fight.”
