Khamzat Chimaev took a shot at Colby Covington on Monday, and he did it in seven words. “Colbi is not coming, he is scared,” Chimaev wrote on X on Nov. 9, misspelling the first name of the former interim welterweight champion along the way.
That was the whole post. No fight date, no event, no hint at what exactly Covington is supposedly not coming to. Chimaev left the details out and let the insult do the work.
The timing was predatory. MMA Fighting’s Nov. 6 Morning Report featured a headline about Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman roasting Covington for an embarrassing 43-second loss, with the line “He’s supposed to beat Khamzat Chimaev?” attached to it. So the idea of Covington and Chimaev sharing a cage was already floating around, and two former UFC champions were already laughing at it.
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Covington’s reputation took another hit from an unlikely place. MMA Mania’s UFC Vegas 124 preview, breaking down the strawweight co-main between Tatiana Suarez and Virna Jandiroba, cited Covington’s matchup with Raul Rosas Jr. at Hype Italy as evidence that being the more accomplished wrestler doesn’t guarantee you control a fight. When a 115-pound preview uses you as the cautionary tale, you are having a bad month.
What Chimaev actually wants
Chimaev’s own stated plans point elsewhere. In comments relayed by MMA Junkie on Nov. 6, he said he wants to sit and wait for the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov.
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“I should fight the winner [of Strickland vs Imavov] because I’m the #1 contender. I didn’t lose that match. I’m the real champion,” Chimaev said.
Two days later he was talking about a faster return. Speaking with Farah Hannoun, per MMA Junkie, Chimaev said he wants to fight very soon and is waiting on the UFC to give him a fight. He also repeated his position on the Strickland result: “I didn’t lose the match (to Strickland). I am the real champion.”
So Chimaev is publicly disputing his Strickland result, calling himself the top contender and asking for the winner of Strickland vs. Imavov, while also saying he’d like to get back in there soon. A guy with Covington’s recent résumé doesn’t slot cleanly into any of that, which makes Monday’s post look a lot more like a guy enjoying himself than a guy angling for a contract.
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My take: I’ll give Chimaev this much, he answers questions straight. He thinks he beat Strickland, he thinks he’s the champ, and he thinks Covington is ducking him. He doesn’t hedge. Matchmaking-wise, though, Chimaev vs. Covington is a fight nobody needs right now, least of all Covington, who is still hearing about 43 seconds from Cejudo and Usman. The UFC owes Chimaev an answer on Strickland vs. Imavov. Until that comes, the most damage he did to Covington on Monday was the spelling.
