Did Colby Covington Duck Bo Nickal?

Bo Nickal has called out Colby Covington for allegedly refusing to sign a contract for a UFC White House event on June 14.

The rivalry, which exploded during a Real American Freestyle (RAF) press conference in January, had fans anticipating a collision at 185 pounds. However, according to Nickal, Covington is opting for “damage control” over competition. Nickal’s push for the fight intensified after RAF 05 in January, where Covington successfully tested the middleweight waters by defeating Luke Rockhold in a dominant 12-0 technical fall.

Covington’s Mindset

“It’s a great matchup. How’s he going to hurt me? He’s not going to take me down and hold me down. He can’t strike. He’s scared to strike; he’s scared to get hit in the face. His body is like a pillow-top down comforter. You touch him in the body, he’s going to fall over. He got knocked out by a Dutch grappler. …Bo got beat up by a Dutch grappler, bro. You got kneed and elbowed, and you quit before the knee even hit you. So, he’s a quitter. It’s an easy fight.

“If that’s what UFC wants and it’s the only option I have, then of course, yeah, I’m taking that fight,” Covington reiterated. “I’ve never turned down a fight in the history of this company. You can ask anybody at UFC. I’m a company man. I accept any fight they offer me. I just want to fight at the White House, so if I have to go to ‘85 to do it, then so be it. “But I’d like to be at 170. Welterweight’s always been my weight. I have aspirations there. I was the world champion in 2019 there, so I’m hoping we can find a big fight at welterweight,” Covington said

Nickal viewed Covington’s cruiserweight/middleweight wrestling appearance as a clear signal that a UFC jump was imminent. Nickal claims that despite his vocal challenges, Covington’s camp has officially steered clear of the matchup. Covington previously justified his lack of interest by mocking Nickal’s first career loss to Reinier de Ridder, calling the wrestling phenom a “quitter” and dismissing him as a legitimate threat.

“Colby won’t fight me unfortunately. Probably a smart move by him,” Nickal said