LAS VEGAS – Colby Covington has been specific about whom he wants next, but is happy to shift gears to fight Nick Diaz.
With Diaz (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) teasing a return in 2021, Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) said he’d be more than willing to welcome him back, even though he has his sights set on UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.
“I would love to fight Nick,” Covington told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC on ESPN+ 36 post-fight news conference this past Saturday. “He’s a high-pressure fighter. I’d love to fight him and it would be an easy fight. I’d definitely retire him just like I retired Tyron Woodley (on Saturday). Nick Diaz would never fight again, I promise you, after I got done with him.”
Both Usman and Masvidal currently are booked. Usman is scheduled to face Gilbert Burns in December and Masvidal is linked to a Nate Diaz rematch, also in December.
But Covington can’t understand why Masvidal would rematch Nate Diaz, when a friends-turned-rivals matchup would have much higher stakes.
“Absolutely, (Masvidal vs. me is) a bigger fight,” Covington said. “Everybody knows Nate Diaz is done. He hasn’t been relevant in five, six years. The guy fights once every couple of years. He’s got nothing left in the tank. He’s had so many fights. He’s got CTE. He shouldn’t even be fighting anymore. It’s a shame. His coaches, I feel bad that they let him go in the octagon anymore. So they need to do this fight with me and Jorge.
“He’s been talking recklessly in the media. He’s been saying all this (expletive). ‘Oh, it’s on sight,’ this and that. OK, come back up your words. I back up my words. All the talk I say, I talk the talk, and I walk the walk. Let’s see, ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal.”
