Colby Covington challenges 'mentally weak' Charles Oliveira to fight

Colby Covington is still interested in bringing in former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at welterweight.

Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) discussed the possibility of moving up to 170 pounds following his split decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April, and Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) then reached out to Oliveira, who said he would respond.

Covington's criticism of Oliveira was not particularly heated, but after firing head coach Ian Machado-Garry, he doubled down on his interest in Oliveira.

“It's still possible that there could be a fight,” Covington told Submission Radio about Oliveira. “UFC hasn't shown a lot of interest, but given the situation and him saying in a recent interview that he wants to move up to 170 pounds, he's a big guy. He's taller than me, he weighs more than me.

“He's just a greedy guy and he's cutting down to 155 pounds because he wants to get stronger because he doesn't have a mental advantage. He's mentally weak so he needs to have a physical advantage. He needs to be bigger than him in the fight to have confidence.”

Covington is fresh off losing his welterweight title to Leon Edwards at UFC 296. He's targeting a big name for his next fight, but it's questionable whether Oliveira will take on him.

“He's another guy that's going to say stuff that doesn't make sense,” Covington said. “Saying, 'I want a big legend fight, I want to move up to 170 pounds,' you know? Well, Charles Oliveira, here's your opportunity. I'm the biggest fight you can get. Former world champion, Brazilian champion, Miami champion, Donald Trump's favorite fighter. Charles, what could be bigger for your legend than fighting me? You want the biggest fight? The ball's in your court, Charles.

“Let's see if he's a man of his word. You made a big splash and said you wanted to move up to 170. You have nothing left at 155. Everybody else you're going to face is an unknown. The biggest and best fight to carry on the legacy of Charles Oliveira would be Colby Covington. So let's see if he's going to live that life. But I don't think he will. I think he's going to walk away because he knows what's coming.”