Colby Covington Willing To Be Backup For UFC 261 Main Event

Former UFC Welterweight interim champion Colby Covington has expressed his interest in being the backup fighter for the upcoming UFC 261 main event rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

During an interview with MMA reporter The Schmo, Covington shared that he plans to attend the event and would willingly weigh in as an alternate if needed.

“Everbody knows, the UFC hasn’t told me but I think it’s self-explanatory, I’m the backup guy,” Covington said. “If anything happens, anybody gets COVID, anybody gets cold feet and pulls out of that fight then I’m showing up.”

“I’m staying ready, I have my weight ready to go, I’m training preparing like I am fighting April 24 for the world title so you know if they want me to weigh in I’d love to weigh in, if not it’s okay I’ll be there in attendance and I’ll be ready to go in case anybody pulls out last minute.”

Covington most recently fought in September of 2020 against Tyron Woodley and was able to achieve victory via fifth-round TKO. Before that bout, Covington had lost an attempt at the Welterweight title in an extremely competitive five-round war where he was finished by Usman in the final round.

Usman most recently defended his title against Gilbert Burns in February, winning the fight via second-round knockout. In 2020 Usman took on Masvidal for the first time on short notice and secured himself a landslide decision victory.

Since their initial meeting Masvidal has sat out from, however, he was offered opportunities to fight Covington including for the pair to host the return of The Ultimate Fighter.

For Covington, it isn’t clear if the UFC will choose to have him as a backup for the event, or what will be next for the highly ranked fighter following this title fight.

Who do you think we see Covington face off against next?