Report: UFC targeting Colby Covington vs Darren Till at UFC London
While there is plenty of frustration from welterweight contender Colby Covington after being snubbed a title shot, the UFC is reportedly interested in booking him for a major fight. According to Chris Taylor of BJPenn.com, the UFC is targeting a top welterweight contender fight between former title challenger Darren Till and the interim champion, Colby Covington.
The report states that the UFC is targeting the fight to take place on March 16 in London, England which will be aired on ESPN+.
I’m told the UFC is looking to book a welterweight fight between Colby Covington and Darren Till for #UFCLondon on March 17.
Covington has recently stated that he will hold out for his promised title shot, so we shall see what happens.
— Chris Taylor (@CTaylor_96) January 10, 2019
After being passed up for the next title shot against welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington has been very vocal about his displeasure with the UFC. After reportedly several attempts by the promotion to book Woodley vs Covington, the UFC decided to go another way and book Kamaru Usman to face Woodley in the co-main event at UFC 235 in March.
While making an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Covington aired out all his frustrations with the UFC and President Dana White regarding the title fight. Covington went as far as to tell the UFC to release him since he feels he was lied to regarding the title situation.
As for the champion Tyron Woodley, he still has plans to settle the rivalry between him and Covington as the two have exchanged in a very public battle through social media. In an interview with TMZ Sports, Woodley said he plans to get through Usman and then face Covington in June.
The timeline would make sense for a fight between Covington and Till to take place shortly after Woodley faces Usman so that if Covington and Woodley are victorious, the UFC could schedule them to face each other.
This would be the return fight for Till who most recently lost in a title fight to Woodley back at UFC 228 in September of 2018. After rising through the division quickly, the UK star got his title opportunity but ultimately fell short. There had been rumors that Till could possibly jump up to middleweight, but it appears that is not the case for now.
Covington has said that if he was to fight Darren Till, he’d like the UFC to pay him right before he agrees and signs the fight. It’ll be intriguing to see how the situation plays out after Covington was very vocal against the UFC, but it sounds as if it could all be worked out.
