Covington: 'I'm not going to chase Tyron Woodley anymore'

Colby Covington is over the idea of fighting Tyron Woodley.

The former interim welterweight champion wanted to face Woodley on short notice this weekend after UFC London moved locations and original headliner Leon Edwards fell off the card, but the coronavirus pandemic ultimately forced the promotion to postpone the event.

"I'm not going to chase Tyron Woodley anymore," Covington told MMA Junkie's Farah Hannoun. "I was willing to step up to beat his ass in front of the world. I'm not begging and I'm not chasing him anymore. I already know he's going to run from me."

Woodley and Covington were once teammates at American Top Team but grew to have a strong dislike for each other. In recent years, they've traded verbal barbs on social media and in the press. The two fighters were expected to meet in 2018 when Woodley held the UFC welterweight belt, but the bout ultimately did not come to fruition.

While "Chaos" is still open to fighting the ex-champ, he said it's no longer his priority. Instead, Covington has his eyes set on a rematch with UFC welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman, who beat him by fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 last December.

"I'm either going to get my rematch with (Usman), or I'm going to wait to fight the winner of (him against Jorge Masvidal)," Covington said. "It's going to be one or the other. And if Woodley wants to get his ass beat in the meantime, too, he can get his ass beat, too. But unless they're giving me a reasonable offer of what I'm worth, then I'm not going to waste my time with Tyron Woodley. I begged to fight that guy for years."