Michael Bisping believes moving to middleweight would be a bad idea for Colby Covington.
After suffering his second-straight loss to Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63, Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) recently revealed that he’s intrigued by the idea of moving up to 185 pounds, particularly to fight former champion Sean Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC).
Covington, who doesn’t cut too much weight to make 170 pounds, even discussed the possibility of lightweight before. Bisping doesn’t think Covington has the size to compete at middleweight.
“Colby Covington vs. Sean Strickland, first of all, Colby’s too small, simple as that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
Covington dismissed Strickland’s ability, dubbing him as a “cardio kickboxer.” Strickland rematches middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) Feb. 8 in the UFC 312 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
Based on his recent results in the octagon, Bisping thinks Covington’s desire to face Strickland is overambitious.
“Colby Covington, I don’t think he’s going to be fighting Sean Strickland anytime soon,” Bisping said. “I mean, for example, if Strickland goes out there and beats Dricus Du Plessis, there’s no way. There’s no way in hell that Colby moves up to 185 and gets an immediate title fight.
“We know he’s used to getting a lot of title fights. He fought Kamaru Usman, right? He lost in Round 5. Then he beats Tyron Woodley, then he fights Kamaru Usman again. He beats Jorge Masvidal, and then he gets a title shot again, right? You’ve had three title fights at 170. You ain’t going to walk into a title fight in your inaugural fight at 185 pounds.”
