EXCLUSIVE | Colby Covington assures the UFC “isn’t stripping anything”

When Colby Covington defeated Rafael dos Anjos in the co-main event of UFC 225 in June, he earned the UFC interim welterweight championship. The expectation was this accomplishment would set him up for a title unifying showdown with undisputed champion Tyron Woodley. Unfortunately for Covington, however, this is not the way things went down.

Instead, the next welterweight title shot will go to Darren Till, who will battle Woodley in the main event of UFC 228 on September 8. Once this fight is underway, the UFC will quietly strip Covington of his interim title, as there will be no need for an interim title if there’s an active undisputed champion.

Of course, Colby Covington doesn’t see it that way.

“They’re not stripping anything man,” Colby Covington said on a recent episode of BJPENN.COM Radio. “Let’s be honest man. Possession is nine tenths of the law. So I have a world championship that I won fair and square. No one’s beat me for that world championship. They can’t take that world championship from me. Everywhere I go, that championship’s gonna be coming with me. So until someone beats me, and not a man alive can beat me. So I got the real welterweight belt. Let them fight that number one contendership [at UFC 228]. I don’t care what they say about stripping. I ain’t getting stripped of shit…”

While Covington is hoping Woodley defeats Till at UFC 228 so that he can get his grudge match with the current champ, he’s also happy to fight Till, should the Brit emerge the victor.

“[Woodley] could give [the belt] to doughboy [Till], no worries,” he said. “Give it to doughboy. If I have to end the UK hype and all the shit that the UFC’s put into Till as the hype man, then whatever. If it has to be him, then it has to be him, but all I can say is ‘Tyron don’t fuck this up.'”

“I mean I’m making the loudest noise in this division,” he concluded. “I made this division great again. I’m the sole reason people even care or are interested in this division anymore. So I’m the real welterweight UFC champion, and let’s see what happens between this little number one contender fight.”

Do you want to see Colby Covington fight the winner of Tyron Woodley and Darren Till’s UFC 228 title fight? Do you think he should be stripped of the interim title?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/10/2018.