UFC 235 goes down on Saturday night and it’s a loaded card full of big names from top to bottom.
In the night’s co-main event, the UFC welterweight title will be battled over between the champion, Tyron Woodley, and the challenger, Kamaru Usman. Despite not being involved with this fight as many expected him to be in the preceding months, former interim champion of the division, Colby Covington made his presence felt on Thursday.
As Usman was beginning his open workout, Covington showed up and attempted to interrupt things by shouting into his own megaphone as he repeatedly said, “The real champ’s here!” and “You’re boring!”
Covington would mock Usman’s “energy” comments before saying he’ll get knocked out on Saturday and that he’s still No. 2 in the world.
For the often outspoken Covington, he hasn’t fought since UFC 225 in June 2017 when he captured the interim crown by defeating former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos by unanimous decision.
Since then, the American Top Team product has had to deal with a nose injury before attempting to get back into the swing of things with nothing coming to fruition.
As for Woodley and Usman, they have both had their back and forths with Colby Covington over the recent months and for Woodley in particular, even longer than that.
Surely we’ll know more about the situation as the weekend comes to a conclusion.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/28/2019
Tyron Woodley doesn’t think Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson is the squash match that many people are making it out to be.
Paul and Tyson are set to box on Friday, November 15 at AT&T Stadium, which is the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The bout is set to air on Netflix and is an intriguing matchup.
It appears that Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 is official for UFC 311 in January.
The lightweight champion hasn’t been seen in the cage since a clash with Dustin Poirier in June. In the main event of UFC 302, Islam Makhachev entered the octagon as a massive betting favorite against ‘The Diamond’. While the challenger offered some resistance, the Russian emerged with a fifth-round submission victory.
It appears that Dustin Poirier wants to face Max Holloway in his final UFC fight.
‘The Diamond’ has been out of the cage since a third crack at lightweight gold at UFC 302 in June. In the main event of that card, Dustin Poirier faced Islam Makhachev. Despite entering the cage a massive underdog, the longtime contender gave the champion all he could handle. However, Makhachev still scored a fifth-round submission to retain his title.
UFC welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov has no issue fighting Ian Garry if he needs to.
‘Nomad’ is in a bit of a weird spot at the moment. Shavkat Rakhmonov last appeared in the cage last December, submitting longtime contender Stephen Thompson on the UFC 296 main card. Following that victory, he was booked to face Belal Muhammad in his first shot at welterweight gold. However, that fight’s no longer happening.
Shavkat Rakhmonov is hoping to remain on UFC 310 and wants to fight for the interim title.
Rakhmonov was supposed to headline UFC 310 against Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title but the champ suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw. Although Rakhmonov could wait for the title shot, he wants to remain active and calls to fight Kamaru Usman for the interim title.
Renowned American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez has some big praise for Khamzat Chimaev.
While Chimaev dazzled MMA fans with his red hot UFC start, illnesses halted his momentum. Perhaps mother nature can only hope to contain “Borz,” as he bounced back to deliver the most impressive performance of his fighting career. He injured Robert Whittaker’s bottom teeth to the point where “The Reaper” was forced to tap out as soon as a face crank was applied.
Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch has cleared the air on a recent social media post that was met with backlash.
Welch was paying attention to the UFC 308 pay-per-view event. In particular, he was in awe of Khamzat Chimaev’s ability to force a submission on Robert Whittaker as quickly as he did. After the fight, Welch suggested that Bo Nickal might be the only fighter to give “Borz” a run for his money.
Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe he has to be chummy with Jon Jones despite their rivalry being long gone.
Cormier and Jones had a nasty feud under the UFC banner. The two brawled during a UFC 178 media day sessions. Jones defeated Cormier via unanimous decision in their first meeting. Their second clash initially ended in a knockout win for Jones, but that result was changed to a No Contest due to a failed drug test on Jones’ end. “Bones” has long maintained his innocence when it comes to using banned substances.
