Colby Covington: I’ll pick Israel Adesanya up & drop him on his f*cking head
Colby Covington believes he’d stylistically dominate the reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Covington is the #1 ranked contender at welterweight coming off two-title shots against the champion Kamaru Usman. A third fight between the two is a possibility but not an immediate one as Usman had dispatched ‘Chaos’ both times in competitive but definitive bouts.
Given the tough position he’s in from a match-making aspect, Covington shares the belief of his mentor, Chael Sonnen, that ‘Stylebender’ is the fight to make next for him.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Covington said that his wrestling will be too much for the current middleweight champion. “I think I can definitely go up to 185 and fight Adesanya,” said Covington as he continued, “But I don’t know if he’s gonna turn around like that.
“But he doesn’t have a dance partner right now. I mean, some of the guys they’re trying to line him up with, it’s unoriginal. Why can (Kamaru) Usman fight him and all the fans want that, but the guy that beat Usman – I beat Usman. I beat Usman twice. Usman sucks, dude. Everybody knew in Madison Square Garden I won those last three rounds.
“It was an easy win for me, easy decision victory. Unanimous. So, why can’t I fight Adesanya? He can’t stop my wrestling. I’ll pick him up and drop him on his f*cking head. He’s a cardio kickboxer.
“They got enough cardio kickboxers in women’s classes around the U.S. Like, I could go join one of those as well, but I decided to pick up hard grueling American wrestling. So, I don’t think Adesanya could stop my American wrestling, and I don’t think he’s that good a fighter.” (transcribed by MMA Junkie)
Who’s next for Colby Covington?
Colby Covington put in a commanding performance against former teammate Jorge Masvidal to take the unanimous decision victory at UFC 272. In the post-fight interview, he called out another former training partner Dustin Poirier in what is likely to be a big money fight. The All-American wrestler sees ‘The Diamond’ or Adesanya as the next logical matchups for him.
“I want to give the fans the biggest fight possible,” Covington said. “So, I don’t cut weight to go to 170, so I’m not gonna go up to 185 and make it a full-time home. But I’m waiting for the big fights to present themselves.
“And the two biggest fights in my mind, go beat up Adesanya, the guy who just has cardio kickboxing, he’s not that good of a fighter, he’s not well-rounded, he can’t stop my American wrestling.
“I’ll melt that guy. He’ll a hundred percent melt under my pressure and my pace. Or fight Dustin, the guy who said it’s on sight. He wants to come up to my weight class 170, he said this and that, he’s supposed to be some pound-for-pound great fighter. So, if you’re pound-for-pound great, then come fight.
“What are you so scared of, man? Like, how are you going to live with yourself knowing that I talked down on your family and on your people and your friends and you didn’t do sh*t about it. You didn’t even try.”
