Colby Covington says he will be the unofficial backup for UFC 261, plans to be in attendance

Colby Covington says he will be in attendance for UFC 261 which sees Kamaru Usman defend his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal.

For months now, the talk was Covington would face Masvidal and the two would coach The Ultimate Fighter. Yet, with the UFC having a full capacity crowd in Jacksonville, the promotion decided to book the rematch with left Covington on the outside looking in.

However, according to Covington, he says he plans to be at UFC 261 as the backup fighter, despite the UFC not telling him he will be.

“I’m going to evaluate things when that fight happens. Everybody knows the UFC hasn’t told me, but I think it’s pretty self-explanatory that I’m the backup guy,” Covington said to The Schmo. “If anything happens, anybody gets COVID, anybody gets cold feet and pulls out of that fight, I’m showing up. That’s right down the road from me. We’re in Miami, Fla., right now. That’s a three-and-a-half-hour, four-hour ride. I’ll take a bus over to Jacksonville, and I’ll be showing up for the fight. I’ll be there.

“So, if anybody pulls out, I’ll be stepping in and we’ll evaluate from there,” Covington continued. “I just want to put on good fights and capitalize on the prime of my career, which is what I’m in. So we’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks.”

Although Colby Covington says he is the backup fighter, the UFC hasn’t offered him the role. Instead, he is doing it by himself but doesn’t know if he will officially weigh-in.

“I don’t know. That’s up to Dana White and Hunter Campbell. That’s their decision. That’s their business and what they want. But I’m staying ready. I have my weight ready to go. I’m training, preparing like I’m fighting April 24 for the world title,” Covington said. “So if they want me to weigh in, I’d love to weigh in. If not, it’s okay. I’ll be there in attendance, and I’ll be ready to go in case anybody pulls out last minute.”

Regardless, Covington has his eyes on the UFC 261 main event and plans to fight the winner.

Would you like to see Colby Covington face the winner of Usman-Masvidal 2?