Colby Covington has never been mistaken for a public relations firm, but this week he went to bat for Islam Makhachev. The welterweight champion has taken criticism for passing on a UFC 336 title defense ahead of Ramadan, and Covington told Farah Hannoun of MMAJunkie that he gets it. The interview was picked up by Bloody Elbow and BJPenn.com.
“I was surprised,” Covington said. “I thought that Islam just fought two or three months ago, he just had a title defense. Give him a little bit of time to get through Ramadan.”
Here’s the backdrop. Most people expected Makhachev to defend his 170-pound belt against Carlos Prates in Toronto. Instead, the UFC booked Prates against Michael Morales for an interim welterweight title, and that fight will serve as the UFC 336 co-headliner. Makhachev later went to social media to explain that his next fight will be one of the last of his career, which is why he didn’t want to rush it.
Covington’s read is that the January date simply didn’t line up for the champ. He suggested Makhachev should get his time and fight after Ramadan. Then he turned his attention to the two guys who will actually be fighting.
“Michael Morales has fought nobody,” Covington said. “He’s been tested by nobody.”
He gave Morales some credit for his win streak, then said Morales hasn’t had a marquee matchup or a main event against a former champion or a title challenger. Covington’s conclusion was blunt: “So, I don’t think that deserves to be an interim title fight.” He also asked of both men, “what have those guys done?”
Covington did tip his cap to Hunter Campbell and the UFC brass for seeing something in the booking, and he expects fireworks. “I think someone will get knocked out for sure,” he said. His pick is Prates by stoppage, setting up a unification fight with Makhachev at some point in 2027.
Sal’s take
I’m a little grumpy about interim belts on principle, because they usually exist to sell a co-main, and this one has that smell. But Covington has the logic right on the champion. A guy who tells you out loud that he’s counting down his final fights has every reason to pick his spots, and nobody should be shocked that he won’t burn one on a short turnaround in the middle of a fasting window. On the Prates and Morales fight itself, I’ll take Covington’s knockout prediction at face value. Two strikers fighting for a belt that comes with a Makhachev payday tend to throw with bad intentions. My one note for anyone already sketching out that 2027 unification bout: the interim champ still has to get through Toronto first, and plenty of us have lost money betting on the sequel before the original fight even happened.
