Welterweight contender wants to rid the UFC of one of its biggest villains
The bad blood between former UFC welterweight title challenger Colby Covington (17-4) and rising welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry (14-0) intensified over the weekend.
Following Garry’s split-decision win over Geoff Neal at UFC 298 on Saturday, the undefeated Irishman told reporters during his post-fight news conference that he not only wanted to fight Covington, a three-time title challenger, but he wanted to send the 35-year-old into an early retirement.
“I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to beat Colby Covington like we’ve never seen before,” Garry said. “…He has great wrestling cool, put me on my back, see what happens if you put me on my back. I’ll choke him unconscious. I promise you, I will end that flight. I’ll finish that flight, and I’ll rid the UFC of Colby Covington once and for all. Like, he needs to be done. I’m sick of his nonsense, he’s a piece of s---."
Along with ex-UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, Covington drew the ire of the 26-year-old Dublin native after they made derogatory comments about his wife and son in multiple social media posts.
Covington has been known to cross the line when trash-talking his opponents. Just two months ago, he insulted welterweight champion Leon Edwards’s late father during the leadup to their title fight at UFC 296 in December.
That kind of disingenuous behavior is exactly why Garry is eager to get Covington alone inside the Octagon.
“He doesn’t have a choice,” Garry said. “He’s lost three title fights. He doesn’t have a choice. … I don’t believe he’s in a position to be picking and choosing his fights. If he wants to fight, he’s going to do what he’s told, and I’m sure [UFC execs] Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White] will tell him that.”
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