Morning Report: Colby Covington responds to “clickbait Cormier,” “nobody” Ian Machado Garry says “it wasn't a big fight”

Colby Covington is in no rush to return to the Octagon.

Things didn't go well for “Chaos” in his last fight, when Covington challenged UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December and suffered arguably the worst performance of his 21-fight career (17-4), losing a unanimous decision in the main event.

Since losing his third undefeated UFC title, Covington claims he broke his leg with the first kick he landed on Edwards. Shortly after, he was eyeing a bout against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but the following month he turned his attention to up-and-comer Ian Machado Garry. After criticizing Garry and his family for several comments, Covington offered the unbeaten 14-0 Irishman a fight. However, Covington ultimately rescinded the offer, and Garry was set to face Michael “Venom” Page next Saturday night at UFC 303.

In that short story, former UFC two-division champion and current commentator Daniel Cormier expressed the feeling that Covington painted himself into a corner by attacking Garry so violently, a sentiment that the welterweight powerhouse didn't take too kindly to, despite his good relationship with “DC.”

“I love Daniel Cormier too. He's a friend of mine. But everyone knows he's a media boss now so he'll do anything to get some clickbait,” Covington said. Socast“Who's the easiest name to hook into clickbait in the UFC? Oh, don't trash on Colby Covington. If you say anything nasty about him you'll get sympathy from fans and media because they're all left-wing liberals. Daniel doesn't know what he's talking about. He's never been on the A-side so he doesn't know what it means to make your own decisions and wait for the right opportunity. The most important thing is to get healthy.”

The 36-year-old Covington hasn't been a very active fighter in recent years, fighting just once a year since 2019. Despite that, he's fought for a title every two years since he stepped in the Octagon. By comparison, Gary only began his career in February 2019.

After all, Covington isn't fully healthy yet, at least not in time for “the big fight,” and according to him, Gary isn't.

“I'm not going to rush out to fit somebody else's schedule,” Covington said. “I'm on my own schedule, and UFC knows that. I'm already a superstar, I've made a lot of money, and I don't need to fight anymore. This is truly my time, and I'm going to fight when I'm ready to fight and healthy. I want big fights. This kid is a nobody. He just won a split decision over a kid who's ranked 12th. I've been fighting world champion after world champion for the last seven years, so why should this kid deserve to fight me? He's literally the B-side, the A-side who thinks he's in charge. I'm going to get healthy and want the biggest, best fight possible.”

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Between the links.

UFC Saudi Arabia Media Day.

The best of Pavlovic.

Alice Keroff BTS.

RIZIN Confession 153.

PFL fight week.

Talk nonsense.

Bellator fight week.

The almighty UFC 304 fight camp.

Fancy ham sandwich.

Go on Twitter and use the #MorningReport hashtag or find any of my tweets with this hashtag and send me the jams you're really into right now and I'll pick the best one along with my daily jam pick and give you a shout out. You can also share in the comments below, which can be hard to sift through sometimes.

Small jiu-jitsu, big country.

A timeless masterpiece.

Haha.

Any hints?

squad.

A wild GSP appears.

art.

Wow.

Mohammed Usman (11-3) vs. Thomas Peterson (8-2); UFC Las Vegas 94, July 20

Covington is doing his best to take on the evil, sleazy Wonder Boy.

Happy Friday everyone, have a great day and enjoy all the action this weekend. Thanks for reading and I'll see you on Monday!

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