Colby Covington believes Robbie Lawler is the ‘most worthy contender’
Colby Covington was holding out for a title shot but instead will take on Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Newark. The announcement came out of nowhere given the former interim champion said he was fighting Usman just days ago. Now, however, he explains the decision saying Lawler is the most worthy contender in the division.
“‘Marty Fakenewsman,’ he’s out there faking injuries. Who knows when he’s going to fight again, you know?” Covington said on MMA Junkie Radio. “He’s already been out six or seven months and who knows when he’ll be back. He’s making up different narratives and excuses each and every week. The show goes on.
“I’m excited to get back into action. Uncle Dana came calling, he wanted me to defend my title against the most worthy contender in the division – Robbie Lawler, coming off a dominant win over Ben Askren, you know?
“I have to take the challenge. I couldn’t turn that down. It’s time to fight. I’m not going to fake injuries, make excuses and keep dragging this out, man. I came to make this division great again, and that’s what I’m gonna do on August 3rd.”
Colby Covington believes given the two trained together, and that Lawler had a falling out with American Top Team, it will only make the fight better.
“Me and Robbie, we trained a couple of times together,” Covington said. “He was getting ready for Johny Hendricks and needed a southpaw wrestler, so I offered up my services and trained with him.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Robbie. He’s a great fighter, a legend in the fight game, you know. (He’s) the last real champion in this division, so I’m excited to get in there and test my skills against him and do what I do best, and that’s win, man. Promises made, promises kept.
“Robbie has looked great in his last couple of fights. He looks better than ever right now, and he’s got a lot of motivation going into this fight, because he had a falling out with my agent, Dan Lambert, at American Top Team, and he left our gym and went to the Blackzilians. He traded on us, so he’s going to have that extra motivation to come in and try to knock me out.
“I’ve got that motivation too, to prove all the doubters wrong. There’s a lot of people that are already writing me off and saying he’s gonna knock my head off, so I’m gonna go out there, and I’m gonna prove everybody wrong.”
