Khamzat Chimaev Responds to ‘Lying’ Colby Covington: ‘He Doesn’t Want to Fight’

There seems to be a disconnect between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev regarding a rumored fight between the two that never came to fruition.

Covington was in attendance at UFC 286, and his visit with media included a brief rant on Chimaev. The former interim welteweight champion criticized Chimaev for missing weight ahead of a scheduled fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 279 last year. That mishap eventually led to the card being reshuffled, and Chimaev ultimately submitted Kevin Holland in the opening stanza of a 180-pound catchweight bout.

“He’s been saying I want for the title at 170, I want to fight Colby, this and that. The guy quit to the common cold. The guy quit on a weight cut when he had the best professionals that the UFC PI could offer,” Covington told assembled media. “Millions of dollars put into this guy in marketing and he had the easiest fight in the division, the soy boy Nate Diaz, and he still couldn’t make weight. He missed weight by nine pounds and he’s laughing it off like it’s a f——ing joke.

“He’s a f—-ing joke. The guy f—-ing sucks at fighting, he’s unprofessional and I don’t want to ever that guy’s name again. You guys hype him up to be this great giant, and the guy couldn’t hold my f—-ng jockstrap.”

In recent months, UFC president Dana White claimed that he hoped to book Chimaev vs. Covington. His tune changed following UFC 286, when he announced that Covington is next in line to face Leon Edwards for the welterweight crown. Chimaev, meanwhile, is expected to fight at 185 pounds going forward.

“Yeah, he’ll fight at middleweight,” White said at the UFC 286 post-fight press conference. “…He’s in a position where he should be fighting Top 3 guys in the world [at 185 pounds].”

Despite seemingly being on divergent paths, Chimaev couldn’t help but respond to Covington’s remarks on his YouTube channel.

“Colby’s lying, he doesn’t want to fight,” Chimaev said. “I swear with everything I have. I swear with God, I accept the fight four times and all Muslims understand I swear with the Koran. I get a call four times ‘do you want to fight?’ I said yes. I had a conversation with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby as well, I can show it, [that] we’re going to fight with this guy and it never happened. There is no more.

“You can lie at press conferences and they make it a show. For me, I can’t lie to people. I am who I am, they like it, they don’t like it, I am who I am. That guy plays too much.”

Chimaev also referenced a brief encounter with Covington while both fighters were at the UFC Performance Institute.

“When I see him in the PI, when I see [him], he sees me, he turns around,” Chimaev said. “He ran somewhere I didn’t see him anymore.”

With Chimaev’s future seemingly at 185 pounds, he encouraged Covington to move up in weight so they can settle their differences. That, of course, is unlikely with a third title shot awaiting the outspoken American.

“If he wants to fight, just come up like me. Try to come up. Everyone’s talking about that, he doesn’t want to fight him — I fight everybody,” Chimaev said. “If he wants to fight, fight. For me, weight class doesn’t matter. If somebody wants the fight — if UFC calls me to fight Brock Lesnar, I’ll fight with him. For me it doesn’t matter, fight everybody, whichever weight class the UFC wants, I’ll fight. I never choose my fights.

“These chickens they lie so much. So many guys speak on the internet ‘I want to fight Khamzat,’ but why am I standing here with no fights for half a year or more now.”