Colby Covington eyes fight with UFC star Israel Adesanya: ‘I don’t think he can hang with me’
Former interim UFC welterweight champion, Colby Covington claims he is still open to a future fight with current middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya – claiming he has the attributes to firmly separate himself from the gold holder if they share the Octagon.
Covington, the current #2 ranked welterweight contender, is a former interim gold holder in the division, and is expected to return to the Octagon later this year.
Pegged to feature in an undisputed welterweight title fight in his comeback clash, Covington is earmarked to fight current division gold holder, Leon Edwards before the close of the year – welcoming any possible date for his pairing with the Birmingham native.
Sidelined since headlining UFC 272 back in March of last year, Clovis native, Covington most recently landed a one-sided unanimous decision win over the recently retired, Jorge Masvidal in the pair’s heated grudge match.
As for Adesanya, the two-time undisputed middleweight kingpin headlined UFC 287 back in April, stopping former champion, Alex Pereira in their championship rematch with a thunderous second round KO victory.
Colby Covington voices interest in future fight against Israel Adesanya
Eyeing an eventual fight with Adesanya off the back of his decision win over Masvidal last year, Covington claimed he is still open to the possibility of fighting the Nigerian-Kiwi in the future.
“Absolutely [I’d still love that matchup], I think that’s a huge fight and it’s a fight of high magnitude,” Colby Covington told of a fight with Israel Adesanya during an interview with MMA Fighting. “I like the matchup, to be honest, I don’t think he can hang with me. I think I take him down. I beat him from pillar to post and I just break him inside that Octagon.”
“He can’t hang with the cardio king,” Colby Covington explained. “He’s not ready for all-American steel and twisted sex appeal. I would love that fight, champion versus champion – USA versus wherever he’s from – New Zealand or whatever. Let’s get this going.”
