Colby Covington On UFC Champ Israel Adesanya: "I Beat Him From Pillar To Post"

Colby Covington doesn't think UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya can handle his pressure.
(via Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Colby Covington is confident in his abilities to dethrone UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya.

Covington is the next challenger for the UFC Welterweight Championship, as confirmed by UFC President Dana White several times. The reigning titleholder is Leon Edwards, who has said he's targeting an October date in Abu Dhabi.

READ MORE: Chael Sonnen & Ariel Helwani Debate UFC Welterweight Title Picture

While Covington is staying focused on another crack at the 170-pound gold, he didn't shy away from expressing his opinion on how a fight with Adesanya would go if the two mix it up. When asked by Mike Heck for MMAFighting if such a bout interests him, "Chaos" made his answer clear.

"Absolutely," Covington said. "I think that's a huge fight and it's a fight of high magnitude. So, 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 and I've been doing extra in the cardio to get my bedroom cardio right. So, he's not ready for raw American steel and twisted sex appeal."

Ultimately, Covington doesn't think Adesanya wants anything to do with his grappling.

"I don't think he wants to fight a high-level wrestler like me," Covington said. "Someone that can just keep up and be in his face the whole entire time, pressure him. I'm not just gonna shoot one takedown, I'm gonna shoot 5,000 takedowns and be in your face and break you."

READ MORE: Colby Covington Says 'Racist' Belal Muhammad Won't Get UFC Title Shot Next

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Fernando Quiles Jr.
FERNANDO QUILES JR.

Fernando has over a decade of combat sports news writing experience. He currently covers MMA, boxing, and pro wrestling. Fernando joined MMA Knockout as the Lead Writer/Editor when it was founded in 2023.