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Covington willing to fight Chimaev, 'take some time off his life'

Cooper Neill / UFC / Getty

Colby Covington is willing to square off with Khamzat Chimaev if the UFC wants that to be his next bout.

But the former interim welterweight champion doesn't seem to think that would be the smartest fight to make.

"The media loves to rush these kids and these hype jobs," Covington told MMA Fighting's Mike Heck. "This is fighting, man. People get seriously hurt (from) rushing people like that.

"If you guys want to rush a guy and take some time off his life and send him for a hospital trip, then, yeah, I'm always open for that. I love doing good business and I love doing business for the UFC. It would be an honor to beat whomever they want me to beat."

Ranked No. 11 at 170 pounds, Chimaev is one of the most hyped and fastest-rising athletes in mixed martial arts. He burst onto the UFC scene last year and has won four straight fights in the Octagon, most recently earning a first-round submission of Li Jingliang at UFC 267 in October.

However, Chimaev has yet to face a top-10 opponent, so a matchup against the No. 1-ranked Covington would easily be his most daunting challenge to date.

"(Chimaev is) a joke. ... He needs to beat someone worthy, someone in the top five, someone in the top of the rankings, (and) not just fight handpicked people," Covington said.

Covington is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 268 earlier in November.

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