Colby Covington: ‘I don’t think it was the right move’ to cancel UFC cards

Colby Covington thinks it was a mistake to cancel the next three UFC events because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, UFC President Dana White sent out an email to UFC employees, notifying that the next three events on the calendar—shows originally scheduled for London, Columbus and Portland—have all be “indefinitely postponed.” 

The reason for the delay, of course, is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing risks and restrictions associated with large public gatherings.

Covington sees canceling the events as the wrong move, and believes people are “acting irrationally” as the virus continues to sweep the planet.

”I don’t think it was the right move,” Covington told MMA Fighting. “I think we’re healthy, young professional athletes. We already do something that’s dangerous enough as it is, getting locked into an octagon and fighting each other, so what’s more dangerous than a little flu that’s going on right now? I think people just need to be more aware of what’s going on, wash their hands, social distancing, this and that. But as professional athletes, we already risk enough as it is.

”I had a fan reach out to me from China, and they were like, ‘We just had to stay in our houses for 30 days, pretty much quarantined, and after that, there haven’t been any new cases for over one month, and everything’s under control,'” Covington added. “I think everybody’s kind of panicking and acting irrationally, and we just need to realize that everything’s under control, and America, the greatest country in the world, is going to be OK, and things will go back to normal.”

Colby Covington has been in the headlines quite a bit over the last few days.

After the UFC’s planned event in London fell apart, the promotion briefly plotted a short-notice show in the US for the same date. For a fleeting moment, it sounded like Covington and his arch rival Tyron Woodley could headline this hastily-arranged card.

According to Covington, both he and Woodley accepted the matchup, but it just wasn’t possible.

”Both sides were agreeing,” Covington said “Tyron Woodley’s never accepted a fight with me. For the first time ever, he’s finally agreed to fight me, and it was about to happen for the people, and all of a sudden, the plug got pulled, and they couldn’t find anywhere to do the fight.”

Now that this Woodley fight has fallen through, Covington says his focus is once again on  rematch with UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman.

”That definitely takes priority over Woodley,” he said.

Who do you want to see Colby Covington fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/17/2020.