"He's literally inspired every combat athlete" - Colby Covington labels meeting Sylvester Stallone his "favorite career moment"

Colby Covington, who will headline UFC Tampa opposite Joaquin Buckley this weekend, recently met Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone. The former interim champion described meeting the 'Rocky' star as his "favorite career moment."

Covington and Stallone, two outspoken supporters of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, met at Mar-A-Lago, the home-base for the former POTUS. 'Chaos' shared two pics of himself alongside Stallone on Instagram.

Check out Covington's post below:

In an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri ahead of his upcoming fight, when asked about meeting the veteran actor, Covington said:

"Meeting Sylvester Stallone is probably my favorite career moment, to be honest. He just his energy and like he like has such a beautiful family… He is just such a great energy and like I told him you know about how he’s literally inspired every combat athlete and wrestler like myself throughout their careers.”

Check out Colby Covington's comments about meeting Sylvester Stallone (0:45):

The 'Rocky' film series starring Stallone as Rocky Balboa holds legendary status in the world of combat sports and pop culture overall, for its underdog rags-to-riches storyline, iconic soundtrack, memorable sequels, and more.

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Joaquin Buckley is looking to test his wrestling against Colby Covington at UFC Tampa

In the main event of UFC Tampa, Colby Covington will look to return to winning ways when he takes on surging welterweight Joaquin Buckley, who is on a five-fight win streak. 'New Mansa' is unbeaten at 170 pounds in the UFC, with his last win coming over former title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 307.

Coming off a knockout win over one of the best strikers in the division in Thompson, Buckley now wants to showcase his well-roundedness by outwrestling 'Chaos', one of the most relentless wrestlers in the sport. Covington, a collegiate wrestling standout and NCAA Division I All-American, has drowned many-a-fighter with his non-stop barrage of takedowns and seemingly unlimited cardio.

In an interview with Kevin Iole, Buckley had this to say about testing his wrestling against Covington:

"I'm also intrigued to see how my wrestling defense, or my offensive wrestling, does against Colby Covington, too, because we're looking to be a mixed martial artist in this fight."

Check out Joaquin Buckley's comments (3:05):