Colby Covington Says Khazmat Chimaev Is Weak Because He Caught COVID-19

Rising UFC fighter Khazmat Chimaev was recently called “C*mshot” by #1 ranked welterweight Colby Covington. Now, Covington has doubled down by implying that Khazmat is a coward for having complications after contracting the COVID-19 virus.

Covington said that Khazmat had a worse chance of dying in the ring than dying of the coronavirus. He also criticized Chimaev’s inexperience. He spoke about his rival during media day for UFC 268.

“C*mshot Chimaev, you know, he’s got to do a lot more work than get three fights in the UFC. You guys hype these guys up real quick. But let’s not forget that he was put down by the common cold, he was ready to retire off the common cold. That’s a 99.9% survival rate to beat the common cold and C*mshot Chimaev was ready to give it up and retire. So, you know, he doesn’t want to fight me. He’s got way less chance than a 99.9% chance against me.”

It should be noted that COVID-19 is not the same as the common cold. The virus has killed over 5 million people since the global pandemic began. Many people have suffered worse fates than Khazmat Chimaev.

Obviously, “Chaos” thinks he can beat Chimaev pretty easily. The Russian fighter defeated Li Jingliang at UFC 267 via first round submission to improve to 10-0 in UFC competition. He is likely to challenge the winner of the Kamaru Usman vs Covington fight at Saturday’s UFC 268.

Colby Covington gets a shot at Usman’s welterweight title in the main event of this weekend’s card. Usman is the favorite to retain against Covington, who comes in with a UFC record of 15-2-0. If Colby wins, we’re likely to see him call Chimaev out after the fight.