UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington’s latest verbal challenge has been met with a hard-nosed response as WWE champion Drew McIntyre accepted the UFC star’s call for a fight.
Speaking to SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio last month, Covington issued a challenge to Scottish WWE champ McIntyre, saying the WWE would shy away from the matchup because it would be “too dangerous.”
“I’m not looking to pick on someone smaller than me, and guys? Let’s be honest. WWE may not want this because of the violence and it being too dangerous,” he said.
“The last time I checked? People love danger and violence so let’s give it to them. Because I expressed myself by saying that I want to go to WWE to wrestle.
“BUT, it sounds like Drew McIntyre expressed himself like he wants to FIGHT. If WWE does not want to sanction this? I recommend we can do it in a ‘no sanctioned’ country.
“Maybe we do it in the UK? Maybe we do it in Saudi Arabia? But I think there needs to be a fight between me and Drew McIntyre, you know? David versus Goliath.”
But, rather than simply mocking Covington for his outlandish callout, WWE star McIntyre accepted the challenge, telling ESPN, “The problem is, he challenged me. And I like the fact that he’s aimed high.
“I talked about this on a radio show last week, I guess he was on the show. He called me out, he said that, you know, ‘Maybe WWE wouldn’t sanction the match, but I would fight Drew McIntyre.’
“And I think about it like this: One, OK, if we’re not doing it WWE. In WWE, I could beat Brock Lesnar in five minutes in the main event of WrestleMania. How would he do in an MMA fight with Brock Lesnar? Probably not very good.
“So if he wants this unsanctioned fight outside of WWE, I’m willing to fight him in a bar or something.”
Despite Covington’s abilities as a professional fighter, he would concede close to 100 pounds in weight against Scottish powerhouse McIntyre, who said he’d be happy to face the UFC star in an actual fistfight, instead of a WWE-sanctioned match.
“There’s a reason there’s different weight classes,” he explained.
“I’m about 100 pounds heavier than the guy, I’m a foot taller than the guy.
“I’m willing to have an actual fight with him if he wants an unsanctioned fight. It’ll put more eyes on the product — perfectly happy with me.
“I’ll smash his head in, I’ll shut him up. I’ll break his jaw like (UFC welterweight champion Kamaru) Usman did, and then more people (will) watch WWE.
“So, Colby, I’ll fight you, mate. No title shot though, that’s reserved for WWE superstars.”
