"I'll leave him for dead" - Colby Covington believes he would 'annihilate' Nate Diaz in a potential fight

Colby Covington has never been one to hold his tongue when talking about other fighters in the UFC. That trait that was put on display when he was asked about a potential fight with Nate Diaz.

In an interview with MMA News, Colby Covington admitted that a matchup with Diaz would interest him. However, ‘Chaos’ said he won't be chasing it.

"Yeah, it interests me but I'm not gonna waste my breath or get my hopes up that a fight is going to happen. They [Diaz brothers] are never going to fight me… I don't think Nate's going to fight. I don't know what they're gonna do. He's only got one fight on his contract so, of course, he's not gonna accept me on the last fight of his contract. I'll annihilate that guy. I'll leave him for literally dead."

Catch MMA News' full interview with Colby Covington below:

Diaz has recently been making his case for an unlikely UFC welterweight title shot. The Stockton native posted a suggestive Instagram story that painted a target on the heads of 170-pound kingpin Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington ahead of their UFC 268 championship rematch earlier this month.

Nate Diaz is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 263. The veteran fan favorite is currently unranked in the UFC. Covington, meanwhile, sits at No.1 on the welterweight ladder.

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Colby Covington says Nick Diaz should "hang it up" and protect his "average" legacy

During the same interview with MMA News, Nick Diaz was brought up. Covington was about his opinion on the 38-year-old's return loss to Robbie Lawler.

“Exactly what I expected, James [Lynch]... The guy’s not disciplined, man. Nick Diaz has no discipline... The guy let himself go, James. He's in Vegas partying every weekend. You know, doing drugs and drinking heavy alcohol... I knew what was going to happen. I knew he was going to get knocked out by Robbie... Look at his gut dude, he looks so out of shape, man. That's a retirement body, that's a dad bod. He should definitely just hang it up... He has a pretty good legacy, it's average, but, you know, I don't want to see that guy get hurt.”

Nick Diaz’s legacy on MMA's biggest stage started at UFC 47 in 2004, where he knocked out then-future star Lawler. Diaz's spectacular finish erupted the crowd and thrusted the young fighter towards stardom.

17 years later, 'Ruthless' evened the score by beating Diaz via TKO at UFC 266.