Colby Covington: The Next Conor McGregor?

Colby Covington has been able to generate nuclear heat since he has come into UFC. The former interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington is one of the most skilled fighters at the welterweight division right now, and his performance speaks for himself.

However, he doesn’t leave everything to his performance. Every now and then Colby gets the microphone in his hand, and he gets into the skins of UFC fans as well as UFC fighters’. Agreed, Colby often brings out the element of cringe, but he has been the most successful fighter at polarising the fans.

In his last fight against Robbie Lawler, Colby Covington mauled Lawler for five straight rounds. Colby did something that has never been done before, he broke Lawler inside the octagon with his insane pace, countless takedowns and nearly 600 strikes. But that’s not the only thing which came out of that night. Colby Covington made the whole arena chant “You Suck” when he walked out on the entrance theme of WWE Hall OF Famer, Kurt Angle.

To this Kurt Angle responded in a recent interview that Colby wanted the fans to chant “You Suck” when he comes out, and Kurt gave his blessing for that.

The Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle discussed Colby’s personality and understanding of the fight business and said:

“I think he (Colby Covington) has something that nobody else has. He understands. He gets the entertainment factor of it. Obviously, we are talking about the baddest sport of the planet. But you have to add some entertainment to it. He has that mind for it like Conor McGregor”

Kurt Angle also shared his perspective on fight business and said:

“The last thing you want fans to do is not to say anything. You either want them to cheer for you or you want them to boo you. If you walk out and hear crickets then you are doing something wrong.”

Conor Mcgregor changed the whole fight business with his personality and fight selling strategies. Conor sold would sell out an arena in a heartbeat because of the way he builds up his fights. Conor Mcgregor vs Khabib was the biggest event IFC has ever made. Also, his two fights with Nate Diaz was also huge. And now there are not many fighters in UFC who can do the same with the fight promotion. maybe a couple of names come into the mind such as Colby Covington, Henry Cejudo, and Ben Askren.

Colby Covington doesn’t just talk trash before the fight, he backs it up with some impressive performance inside the ring too. Arguably the most hated fighter in UFC ever is so effective with his skillset that fans tune in to watch him lose. For sure, it’s another accolade for Colby when the real American hero, Kurt Angle praised Colby and compared his promotion skills with Conor’s.

However, can Colby Covington be a Conor McGregor level attraction down the lane?

We have to take a few things into account to discuss that. When Conor came to UFC he brought the whole Irish Invasion with him. Conor’s matches would be filled with Irish fans who would support their champion no matter what. Colby is the exact opposite of it. He makes the whole hate him and chant “Colby Sucks”. But that’s good news. Chael Sonnen sold many fights and he was playing a heel the whole time. He even turned a whole nation against him when he fought Anderson Silva, and Colby did the same when he fought Rafael Dos Anjos. It’s very unlikely that someone would be as big as Conor when it comes to MMA. However, Colby Covington is arguably the best thing UFC has right now.

Currently, Colby Covington is expected to face Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title. It is going to be barn burners since both of these fighters are very similar in fighting styles. Colby Covington has said on many occasions that this fight is going to happen on the MSG card in November, though UFC has not confirmed the news.