Colby Covington hasn’t fought for almost 11 months following his failed attempt at winning the undisputed welterweight title at UFC 296. Since then there have been several reports of his return to the octagon, with the fighter himself claiming that Dana White wanted him to compete at UFC 303, but nothing has come to fruition. And even though Covington has appeared to throw in his hat to face Shavkat Rakhmonov next month, he could soon be paired with Michael Chandler.

Yes, you read that right. Both Chandler and Covington have shown disdain for each other in the past and don’t see eye-to-eye. But they could face each other down the line. Why are we claiming that? Well, Michael Chandler recently addressed the media ahead of UFC 309, where he is set to face Charles Oliveira. Chandler talked about cutting down to 155 after having initially prepared to fight at 170 lbs, but he had an interesting choice when talking about who he would like to face at 170 lbs down the line.

Chandler expressed immense interest in moving up to the welterweight division if the opportunity is good enough. “There’s some fights at 170 that I would love. Going up to 170, I really, really enjoyed a training camp at 170.The hoodwink, the facade of, ‘Oh my gosh! I get to go do a whole training camp and then fight at 170 and I have to cut down to 155, which is not an easy task for me.”

He was then questioned, “Who’s the first name that you think of like fighting in 170?” Chandler answered, “Colby comes to mind [for a potential fight] at 170. I think that’d be a fun one,” the former Bellator champion said on UFC 309 Media Day on Wednesday.

As you might be aware, Chandler was scheduled to fight Conor McGregor earlier this year, but it didn’t materialize and he had to prepare for lightweight. After a few names that were thrown around, he settled with fighting Oliveria on November 17. This also makes sense as a potential title shot awaits him if he overcomes his opponent at Madison Square Garden. However, his choice of Covington as an opponent is interesting given the history between the two and a surprise departure from his earlier comments.

Colby Covington had an underwhelming showing at UFC 296, his last fight when he faced the then-champion Leon Edwards in Las Vegas. It also failed to impress Michael Chandler who showed no mercy in calling him out.

“If Colby’s offense tonight was an accurate depiction of the U.S. strength, we would have never gotten our independence from Britain, lost WWI, and got demoralized in WWII by a landslide. Colby, you suck,” Chandler wrote on X. When asked whether he would consider moving up the welterweight division to fight Covington, he dismissed the idea and said, “Not now! Not now. Not after that performance. Colby should be fighting on the prelims.” Colby Covington wasn’t going to stand down either.

‘Chaos’, in his typical fashion, would hurl some jibes at Michael Chandler by poking at his ‘Iron’s canceled fight against Conor McGregor. He called fighting Chandler would be “easy,” if he had been able to fill in for ‘The Notorious’ at UFC 303.

“He (Michael Chandler) needs to move on with his business. It’s pretty sad, he looks like a f—ing desperate little bum right there, just begging Conor to give him a fight. It’s an easy fight. You know, the little short pipsqueak’s going to get f—ing knocked out cold,” Covington stated on ‘Submission Radio’.

While Chandler has expressed an interest in fighting Covington at some point, “Chaos” has his eyes set on a different opponent for now.

Covington eyeing title fight for Octagon return

Shavkat Rakhmonov was scheduled to challenge Belal Muhammad for the UFC Welterweight Championship on December 7th. But Muhammad suffered a bone infection in his foot, canceling the title fight. While the champion has insisted he will be back in a few weeks, Rakhmonov has been vouching for an interim title fight.

Kamaru Usman has been touted as an opponent for him at UFC 301, and Covington has thrown his name in the mix. Despite his absence from the scene, Covington remains the sixth-ranked welterweight challenger. Speaking on the ‘Submission Radio,’ he said, “I was excited at the opportunity to step in there. But you know, it looks like they’re going a different route. They’re going to go with the potentially with the (Kamaru) Usman and ‘Sh*trat’ fight and you know good on them that that’s okay. You know I’m right there still.”

Shavkat also responded to the challenge writing, “Let’s go, I’m ready! Your talking will not help you in the Octagon,” on social media. Meanwhile, UFC is leaning toward a Usman vs Shavkat bout, meaning Covington has to wait for his chance.

Even his potential fight against Chandler will depend on how healthy ‘Iron’ will emerge from his encounter with Oliveria. If Chandler takes too much damage, it could be possible he won’t be medically cleared to compete soon enough.

What do you think about Michael Chandler fighting Colby Covington? Is that the fight to make? Drop your comments below.