EXCLUSIVE | Colby Covington rips Nick Diaz for turning down UFC 230 fight

The UFC had a very, very difficult time locking down a main event for UFC 230, which went down earlier this month in New York City’s famous Madison Square Garden. While the card’s headlining spot was ultimately filled by a heavyweight title fight between champ Daniel Cormier and challenger Derrick Lewis, there were reportedly also discussions of a welterweight main event between interim champ Colby Covington and Nick Diaz.

While Colby Covington says he would have been willing to fight Nick Diaz in the UFC 230 main event, the fight never came together. And now he says Diaz has missed his chance.

“No chance [I fight him],” Colby Covington said on episode 104 of BJPENN Radio. “I wanna defend my belt, you know. The Nick Diaz fight, it was cool, I would’ve been willing to save The Garden and make The Garden great again. You know the Trump family would’ve came out to support, it would’ve been a spectacle. I would’ve made history there. But now, he’s been passed up. I’m not wasting my time on him, he’s irrelevant.

“He’s a jobber, he hasn’t won a fight in years,” Covington continued. “He’s definitely 209’s weakest… a bunch of those soy-boys over there in California, smoking that marijuana. So you know, he’s a joke. I don’t wanna waste my time anymore with guys like him, you know. Chumps.”

For now, Colby Covington’s priority is unifying his interim welterweight title with the undisputed title currently owned by Tyron Woodley. After that, he says, he might start considering other big matchups.

“I got bigger and better things to do, you know? I gotta unify this title with Woodley and then after that, then we’ll start talkin’ big fights.”

Colby Covington’s loss of interest in a fight with Nick Diaz actually works out quite well, as his friend and training partner Jorge Masvidal has now been linked to his own matchup with the elder Diaz brother.

Covington and Woodley’s fight, meanwhile, could reportedly occur as soon as UFC 233. 

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/19/2018.