Undefeated contender Rakhmonov was booked to challenge newly-crowned 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad in the main event on December 7. But when Muhammad was forced off the card with a bone infection in his foot, the UFC had to change those plans.
Chatting to Submission Radio, Covington revealed that when he learned of the news about the UFC 310 headliner, he offered to step in to face Rakhmonov on short notice.
“I was excited at the opportunity to step in there. But you know, it looks like they’re going a different route,” he said.
“They’re going to go with the potentially the Usman and S**trat fight and, you know, good on them. That’s OK. You know I’m right there still. Anyways, you know (if) I beat someone I’m right back in the conversation. So you know I would love that (fight with Rakhmonov). You know they can call me on a week’s notice and I’m stepping up to the plate.
“I offered. I told the UFC that I was willing to step up to the plate. I would love to save the show and put on a good show for the fans.
“They pay their hard-earned money for big mega fights. You know that they need a mega-fight. That’s not a mega-fight. They need someone who’s going to put asses in seats and entertain people. So I was excited. That’s (why) I wanted the fight and I asked for it, but I think they have other plans.
“But I’m still in their plans. I’m still the biggest star in the division. Big business is going to get done, and I’m going to get that back to that title before next summer.”
Colby Covington backs his wrestling skills to defeat Shavkat Rakhmonov
Besides his desire to put on exciting fights, the other reason Covington fancied the short-notice assignment against Rakhmonov was because he strongly believed he had the game to hand the Kazakh contender his first career defeat on December 7.
“I think I can walk him down and pressure him and he’s not going to like my pressure,” he said.
“He doesn’t do very well with southpaws. We saw how he did with the busboy, Geoff Neal. So that was a very competitive fight. So, he hasn’t really fought a top, top contender yet. He’s fought some gatekeepers in the division. Some guys right on the cusp of the top 10. But he’s never fought a champion like me and a guy who’s just going to come at him for five straight rounds and just walk him down.
“So I think I match up well with him. He stands very tall. I don’t know, I don’t see anything special with him. You know, he has some good submissions. He’s slick, but that’s when he can control the wrestling. He’s not going to control the wrestling on me. So I think I can beat him pretty easily. I think it’s a favourable fight. And it’s a fight that I want in the future, whether he wins or loses in December.”
Colby Covington targets Jack Della Maddalena for next fight
With the Rakhmonov fight out of reach for now, Covington has turned his attention to another rising welterweight star, Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena, and said a matchup between the pair would be a great matchup between two top contenders at 170 pounds.
“We’ve been talking about this fight with Jack Della Maddalena. I think it makes a lot of sense,” he suggested.
“He got a big win in my hometown in Miami last time he was out here. So he has a little bit of a name out here. And you know, he’s undefeated, he’s hungry. he’s fearless. He’s an exciting fighter. So I think that’s a fight that the fans would be intrigued with. I think it’s a high-level fight. It’s a top contender fight that establishes who’s the next contender for the belt.”
Colby Covington denies receiving a fight contract to face Ian Machado Garry
And Covington had some words for divisional rival Ian Machado Garry, who claimed the American had turned down the chance to fight him.
“There’s no contract. If there was a contract, he would be showing it. He would be putting it everywhere,” he said.
“He’s irrelevant. He hasn’t done anything to deserve a fight of this magnitude. So the fight’s never been offered. I don’t know why he’s talking about that. I’ve been offered three other fights. They weren’t him. They didn’t have his name on it. So there was no contract offered.”
