Colby Covington reacts to Michael Chandler hoping Joaquin Buckley knocks his "block" off at UFC Tampa: "He's just trying to keep his name relevant"

Colby Covington has responded to Michael Chandler's recent remarks, wherein the latter suggested that he hoped Joaquin Buckley would dominantly defeat Covington. 'Chaos' lambasted Chandler while also indicating that he's open to facing any opponent inside the octagon.

During a recent interview with Lucky Block, UFC lightweight Chandler addressed ex-interim UFC welterweight champion Covington's MMA hiatus, which dates back to Dec. 2023. Covington's upcoming fight is a five-round welterweight bout against Buckley, which will headline UFC Tampa this Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.

'Iron' highlighted that Covington accepted that matchup on somewhat short notice after Buckley's original opponent, Ian Machado Garry, was pulled from the event and booked to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 (Dec. 7, 2024).

Chandler implied that 'Chaos' sat on the sidelines for too long, lost to Leon Edwards in their UFC welterweight title fight in Dec. 2023, and is now returning on short notice against Buckley. The 38-year-old proceeded to state:

"I'd love to see Colby Covington get his block knocked off by Joaquin Buckley this weekend."

Chandler believes he outweighs Covington, whom he deemed a lightweight who competes at welterweight to avoid a challenging weight cut. He's open to fighting Covington at welterweight.

'Iron' is also willing to face ex-BMF champion and welterweight Jorge Masvidal, whom he recently expressed mutual interest in fighting, or ex-UFC featherweight champion and current BMF champion Max Holloway, who's moving to lightweight.

Speaking to Full Send MMA, Covington alluded to Chandler's UFC record of two victories to four defeats and retorted:

"That's pretty funny, you know. Fake news again from a guy that doesn't even have a winning record within this organization. So he's just trying to keep his name relevant with the hottest name in the division right now. So I'm the biggest star in the welterweight division."

He added:

"They put my name on the marquee; they sell this place out. You know? The other guy on this card, he didn't even know the fight was happening. He found the fight out online. So shows how much of an irrelevant b*m he is in this company. I'm a company man; love this company with everything I have. And bring it; anybody and everybody. I want the biggest and best names we can do in the company. And I wanna do good business for the UFC. That's what it's all about."

Check out Colby Covington's comments below:

Watch the full interview below:

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Michael Chandler has previously successfully predicted a Colby Covington loss

Back in 2021, Colby Covington was booked to rematch then-welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman that November. Incidentally, Michael Chandler has extensively served as a training and sparring partner for Usman.

Speaking to Helen Yee, Chandler signaled that the first Usman-Covington fight in 2019, which 'Chaos' lost via fifth-round TKO, was close. He acknowledged Covington's skills and underscored that he mustn't be discredited after losing to a pound-for-pound great like Usman.

Chandler seemingly acknowledged that Covington's a tough test for Usman but foresaw his teammate winning their rematch too -- a prediction that rang true as he won via unanimous decision. 'Iron' notably stated:

"I think Kamaru comes out with the win again."

Watch Michael Chandler's assessment below (6:00):