Left Out of Conor McGregor Undercard, Colby Covington Handed Verdict Over Charles Oliveira Callout

Conor McGregor is back. The UFC’s prodigal son will finally enter the octagon on June 29 to take on Michael Chandler at the top of UFC 303 after three years of inactivity. And the T-Mobile Arena card has already broken the record for the highest-grossing gate of any UFC event ever. This is why the undercard of UFC 303 is such a coveted spot. However, former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, who was thought to be initially fighting Ian Garry on the June 29 card, is officially out after allegedly refusing the fight.

The UFC has announced that promising welterweight prospect Michael ‘Venom’ Page has been booked to fight the #7 ranked undefeated Irishman. And instead of Garry, Covington called out Charles Oliveira, who fights at a different weight class. This had many scratching their heads, including UFC commentator Michael Bisping, who told fans why he has eventually come around to the idea of watching the two veterans fight.

Bisping wants to see Oliveira-Covington as ‘Chaos’ is out of Conor McGregor-led UFC 303

Michael Bisping spoke about the recent drama between Colby Covington, Ian Garry, and Charles Oliveira. Covington had been feuding with Garry since the latter called him out after his UFC 298 victory over Geoff Neal. After initially going back and forth with the undefeated Irishman, where he insulted him and his wife, Covington apparently refused to fight Garry at UFC 303 as the latter had hoped and even signed a contract for.

Instead, ‘Chaos’ called out former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, who fights in the lighter 155-pound division, but has accepted the challenge, regardless. And Michael Bisping, in a recent video on his YouTube channel, admitted to being confused as to why Covington called out ‘Do Bronx’.

“Colby says ‘no that’s not what happened, I was never even sent a contract [to fight Ian Garry at UFC 303].’ And he said that he wants to fight Charles Oliveira… which was a fight that initially had me thinking Colby what’s going on there, right? I’m thinking Charles Oliveira used to fight at 145 now, he fights at 155. He’s one of the most exciting fighters in the game, right. Why are you calling him out?” he said.

The former middleweight champion correctly pointed out that although the fight may not mean much for either man in terms of where they stand in the welterweight or lightweight division, he felt Oliveira-Covington would be a ‘fun fight’ between two very good fighters, which the fans are likely to enjoy.

“But you know what, neither guy is close to a title fight right now… And you know what, Charles Oliveira is up for it, Colby, confident, is up for it. It’ll be a fun fight. It won’t mean much in the rankings but regardless… as a fan, I wouldn’t mind seeing that one anyway,” he added.

While Bisping, the fans, Oliveira, and Covington agree, there is one man they need to convince- UFC CEO Dana White.

Oliveira and Covington agree to fight but UFC is silent

Charles Oliveira is in a kind of no-man’s-land at the moment. The former lightweight champion is coming off a tough, split decision loss just last month. ‘Do Bronx’ fell to promising up-and-comer Arman Tsarukyan at their three-round UFC 300 lightweight title eliminator bout, and is thus out of title contention for the near future. Similarly, Covington too, is out of the title contention (probably for good) as ‘Chaos’ is coming off a one-sided humiliating loss to the welterweight champion Leon Edwards last December.

Since both veterans are similarly situated as far as their careers are concerned, both will benefit from a good rebound fight against a big name. In addition, both men are among the biggest stars in their respective divisions, with a complementary stylistic match-up. All of which combined promises to make their bout an interesting, albeit largely meaningless (as far as their rankings go) one.

Their fight will probably be a very high-level technical grappling masterclass. Both men, of course, are expert grapplers. While Covington has a solid wrestling base owing to his NCAA D1 wrestling antecedents and chain-wrestling style of fighting, Oliveira, many would argue, is perhaps the best grappler in the stacked lightweight division. Fighting each other would give both men the opportunity to shine in their strongest suits, and give fans a fight between two superstars, which the fans are always amenable to. The ball, however, is in Dana White and the UFC’s court. The promotion is yet to give their verdict on the possible bout.

Do you want Oliveira and Covington to fight against each other? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.