Irish welterweight Ian Machado Garry has claimed that he has agreed to fight Colby Covington and a contract is on the table, but Covington has yet to sign it.
Ian Machado Garry and Colby Covington’s much-anticipated fight is inching closer to reality. At least, that’s what Garry’s saying.
The Irish welterweight gave an update on Tuesday. He’s on a mission to fight Covington and end the former interim champ’s career. Apparently, a contract’s waiting, all Covington needs to do is sign.
“I’ve agreed to fight Colby Covington,” Garry announced. He even timestamped his video at 1:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. “We’ve got a date, but Colby’s yet to sign the contract.”
But when’s the fight? Garry didn’t say. We reached out to his reps, but no word back yet. He’d previously mentioned that negotiations for the welterweight grudge match were ongoing.
After his split decision win over Geoff Neal at UFC 298, Garry’s been pushing for a fight with Covington. This prompted Covington to respond with some… let’s call them ‘colorful’ demands. They’ve been trading barbs online, but so far, nothing concrete.
Covington? Unreachable for comment. The 36-year-old MMA bad boy and Trump fan is still licking his wounds from his third failed attempt at the undisputed belt. He lost to current champ Leon Edwards at UFC 296. After that, he called out two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson, but that fight never happened.
In an exclusive with MMA Fighting, Garry said he’d go to Covington’s South Florida turf to make the fight happen. He’s got a bone to pick with “Chaos” for insults against him and his family, not to mention his standing in the sport.
Why does Garry want to fight Covington? “He has a following, respect as one of the better fighters in this division,” Garry explained. “He’s talked s*** about me and my family. I’ll make sure he regrets every word. But even if it was the best Colby Covington we’ve ever seen, he wouldn’t stand a chance against me. I’m too elite. Too fast. Too technically brilliant. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
Garry doesn’t mince words about his feelings for Covington. “I don’t think the guy deserves any respect in the world, to be honest. The s*** he talks … I’ll step into that octagon, and I’ll retire him. My goal when I fight Colby Covington is that he never puts on MMA gloves ever again.”