Colby Covington has opened the door to a fight with Israel Adesanya as he looks to make a UFC return at middleweight.
Adesanya is only 11 months removed from a shocking knockout defeat to Nassourdine Imavov in Saudi Arabia.
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Adesanya was flattened by a nasty right hand from Imavov in the UFC Fight Night main eventCredit: GETTY
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Covington admitted he isn’t a fan of Adesanya’s and wants to test his mettle against the former UFC championCredit: Getty
The fight marked his third straight loss in Dana White‘s promotion and his first non-title bout in six years.
Covington, meanwhile, is on a similar run of form, having not claimed a win in the UFC since outpointing Jorge Masvidal in 2022.
‘Chaos’ then fought and lost to Leon Edwards in a UFC welterweight title bout before being beaten up by Joaquin Buckley in his last fight in December 2024.
The American appeared under the Real American Freestyle (RAF) banner this past weekend, dominating Luke Rockhold in the main event of RAF05.
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He says the bout was a test to see what a bigger opponent felt like and, after coming out on top, is now favouring a move up 15lbs to fight at middleweight with Adesanya in his sights.
Colby Covington: I don’t like Israel Adesanya and fighting him makes a lot of sense
“Someone like Israel Adesanya intrigues me,” Covington told Submission Radio this week on the back of his win over Rockhold.
“A former champion like myself, someone who generates hype, has a following, has a platform and a brand.
“So I think the Izzy fight makes a lot more sense than anything, and he’s someone I don’t really like.
“He’s talked a lot of sh*t about me in the past, let’s see if he can back it up.”
Covington has fought at welterweight his entire UFC career, winning the division’s interim belt by defeating Rafael dos Anjos over five rounds in 2018.
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Covington was battered by Buckley in his last fight, with a doctor’s stoppage due to eye damage ending the fight in round threeCredit: Getty
He then overcame Robbie Lawler in his next fight, but failed to claim undisputed status in two meetings with Kamaru Usman.
The 37-year-old says there is a current lack of star power in the welterweight division, so he wants to move up to get big fights with not long left at MMA’s summit.
“[The Rockhold victory] gave me a lot of confidence going forward that I can do well at middleweight,” Covington added.
“They may be bigger, they may hit harder, but they’re a lot slower.
“I’m just as strong as them, I’m putting on a lot of size these days and getting stronger.”
Covington also mentioned Sean Strickland as a worthy opponent, saying his fellow American is simply ‘a cardio kickboxer’ and he would ‘beat him everywhere.’
What’s next for Adesanya?
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Adesanya isn’t concerned with winning anymore UFC title as his fighting career comes to an endCredit: getty
Adesanya has claimed that he will take more risks as he enters the final chapter of his fighting career.
“Whenever I’m out and about in Auckland, every day I always get the ‘Oh I hear you’re retired!’, and at first I used to explain myself,” Adesanya said during a Q&A at Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA in December.
“But now, I just go, ‘Yeah, I’m retired,’ until they see me on the poster. For me, it’s not about belts anymore – I’ve got two shiny belts at home.
“It looks good, but I just wanna fight. I just wanna do things like I did on my way to the belt.
“I still fought really well when I was defending the belt, but I wanna fight more freely and try risky s*** like I used to.”
After fulfilling a childhood dream by fighting Anderson Silva, ‘The Last Stylebender’ became UFC middleweight champion in 2019 and defended the belt five times before epic back-to-back bouts with Alex Pereira.
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His KO of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 marked one of the most unforgettable moments in the promotion’s historyCredit: Getty
Pereira, a longtime kickboxing opponent of Adesanya’s, knocked out the Nigerian-born New Zealander at UFC 281 in November 2022, but Adesanya famously exacted revenge in their rematch five months later.
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He was then dramatically upset by Strickland at UFC 293 and has since suffered consecutive losses, marking the worst run of form of his entire career.
Adesanya has previously discussed a potential rematch with Strickland, but explained in September why it no longer interests him.