Colby Covington confirms summer return, says Ian Machado Garry ‘has to show me he’s serious’
Colby Covington suggests Ian Machado Garry is the one that’s not serious about fighting him.
Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and Garry (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) have gone back-and-forth about potentially facing each other, but a matchup is yet to materialize.
However, Garry has a different side to the story. The undefeated fighter hinted at a fight offer against Covington from the UFC, but claims it’s Covington who won’t sign the contract. Covington says the plan is to return at UFC 303 on June 29.
“I’m going to fight this summer for sure. Someone’s going to get fought,” Covington said on the “Twins Pod.” “They’re trying to figure out who the biggest name and the best business that we can do for the UFC. International Fight Week is like their big event in the summer that the UFC does.
“They have a big festival all week, big events they set up, and it’s capped off by this big pay-per-view on Saturday. So I think that’s when they’re planning for me is International Fight Week. (We’re) just trying to figure out who who’s going to be the guy.”
Garry called out Covington after defeating Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in February. Covington eventually responded, but said he’d only fight Garry if he met three stipulations. Covington and Garry were going to share the stage for the UFC 296 pre-fight press conference this past December, but Garry no showed and later withdrew from his fight against Vicente Luque due to a battle with pneumonia.
“There’s this kid that’s been calling me out,” Covington said. “This kid, Ian Garry, he’s a nobody. I gave him some stipulations and said, ‘Hey man, if you want to fight me, you have to show me you’re serious about business,’ because when I do business, I’m serious about it. I show up to every fight. I’ve never pulled out of one fight. I’ve been injured, I’ve been sick, but I always show up and do my business because I love the UFC as the greatest organization in the world.
“So he has to show me he’s serious. He was supposed to be on my last event in the press conference. He pulls out the day of the press conference because he knew I was going to be on stage, and we’re going to have some beef. So that shows me that he’s not serious.”
At UFC 296, Covington lost to welterweight champion Leon Edwards by unanimous decision. The former multiple-time title challenger is eager to run things back with Edwards after breaking his foot early in their fight.
“I’ve got unfinished business with my last fight, Leon Edwards, the guy that has the title right now,” Covington said. “I broke my foot in the first five seconds of the fight. I threw a kick. It broke in three different places. So that wasn’t me that night. So whoever I have to go through to get that fight (is what I want).”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
