Colby Covington twice fought for the UFC's welterweight title ... and now the 6th ranked 170 pounder, inspired by the soon-to-be 47th President of the United States, tells TMZ Sports the comeback is on!
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00:00Yeah, I'm super excited.
00:03You know, I've been hearing some of the chatter, people saying that chaos is dead.
00:06They have no idea what's coming on Saturday night.
00:08I'm going to put the best performance in my career.
00:10And, you know, I'm super inspired by Donald Trump taking back the White House and his
00:15work ethic.
00:16I mean, he's in three different states a day.
00:17Guy doesn't sleep.
00:18So Saturday night, I'm going to make the UFC great again.
00:21And January 20th, when Donald Trump gets inaugurated, he's going to make America great again.
00:26I was going to ask you about him and I'll just continue it right here.
00:29Any idea?
00:30I know it's not that close to Mar-a-Lago, but any idea if could he potentially be there
00:34on Saturday?
00:35You got to see, man, you know, I never reveal like surprises, but I got some big surprises
00:41to it for Saturday.
00:42So the fans definitely are going to want to see this.
00:45We're going to blow the roof off Mali Arena in Tampa, Florida, and it's going to be a
00:49spectacle.
00:50You were the first UFC fighter to visit the White House of a president and put the belt
00:55there.
00:56You're going to get to do it again.
00:57You're going to get to do it a second time.
01:00First and only fighter to deliver the belt to the sitting president in the Oval Office
01:05in the White House.
01:06So, yeah, I plan on doing it a second time.
01:09Next year, I feel like I'm going to be very active and get a title shot in early first
01:12quarter or maybe by summer at the latest.
01:14So I do plan on hand delivering another belt, the new belt, since we have this new Power
01:19Ranger belt.
01:20We used to have such a beautiful belt, but now we have this Power Ranger belt.
01:23So I got to go give that one to Trump because he's got the old belt.
01:26We got to get him the new belt.
01:28Are you going to go to the inauguration?
01:29Yeah.
01:30Yeah, definitely.
01:31I'll be at the inauguration.
01:33Thankful that I got invited by the campaign.
01:37Let's talk about your opponent.
01:38Obviously, it was kind of a late opponent for you and him.
01:42What do you make of Buckley?
01:43He's obviously on a run, but he's not been in there against someone of your caliber yet.
01:47Yeah.
01:48I mean, you know, he hasn't been in there with someone in the main event spotlight for
01:52five rounds.
01:53So, you know, he better pack a lunch because it's going to be a long night for him.
01:56So, you know, he hasn't fought anybody at the elite level yet.
02:00Someone that's a top, you know, tier contender.
02:02So, you know, he's talking a big game, but Saturday night, he's going to get exposed.
02:06Is there a way that you want to take care of business on Saturday?
02:11I want to beat him so convincingly that, you know, the world knows I'm next for the title.
02:15You know, I want the company and the fans to be like, oh, wow, chaos is back.
02:20And that's the best way to win on Earth.
02:21We need to get him in a title fight again.
02:24So anyway, but I just plan on finishing him before 25 minutes is up.
02:28What do you make of the division right now?
02:29You just saw those two undefeated guys fight, and I know there's no love lost between you
02:34and Gary, but between those guys and Bilal taking over, what do you make of the guys
02:39above you and who do you want to be there when you get your next title shot?
02:42Yeah, it's a wide open division right now.
02:45You know, Bilal backed out of his fight because he got a pager on his foot.
02:48Like first off, why would you put a pager on your foot and then it blow up your toe?
02:52It's just so weird.
02:53So the fact that he backed out of that, he's a pussy, you know, he's a good matchup for
02:57me.
02:58You know, he likes to wrestle pressure, guys.
03:00You know, that's what I do best.
03:01He's not going to outstrike me as pillow face.
03:03He couldn't hurt a fly.
03:04So, you know, I think the division is wide open right now for me, and I think it's a
03:07better, better storyline and arc to come this late in the game and come back and win the
03:13world title.
03:14So 2025 is going to be beautiful.
03:16You know, a lot of good things are happening in America's first again, and Colby is going
03:20to be first again.
03:21And last thing, if people weren't going to tune in, it's the last card of the year.
03:25Colby Covington, Joaquin Buckley.
03:27Why do they need to watch on ESPN on Saturday?
03:29Yeah, and they need to watch because I have some special things in store.
03:34I promise you that we're going to blow the roof off of Mall Arena, Tampa, Florida.
03:37It's going to be a spectacle.
03:38I have some people that are going to walk out.
03:40It's going to be entertainment at its finest.
03:41You know, it's going to be beautiful.
03:42It's going to be honestly a movie.
03:45So if you miss this show, it's the last show of the year.
03:48I feel bad for you.
03:49You're going to be, you're going to be, you're going to have FOMO afterwards.
03:53You mentioned walkout.
03:55Any hints you could give?
03:56Ah, you know, I can't do that.
03:58I can't kiss and tell like that, but I can tell you, I have some special guests that
04:03are some big, big deals.
04:05And it's, it's, people are going to lose their mind when they see who I walk out with.