Michael Chiesa is a planner.
When he puts his feet in the octagon, the first Ultimate Fighter the winner usually has an idea about a name he will call after a victory. That was not what happened on Wednesday, however, when he dominated Neil Magny to win a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Island 8 main event.
Instead, Chiesa decided to turn his attention to the same fighter he called after the loss to Rafael dos Anjos, a year ago.
“The election is over,” said Chiesa. “Colby Covington, your schtick is done. I want you to follow, boy. “
Calculated how that call might have looked like it fell on Induction Day and Covington’s close relationship with former President Donald Trump, Chiesa was thinking more about the competition than trying to make noise on the microphone.
“Because he’s the toughest fight for me,” explained Chiesa at the UFC Fight Island 8 post-fight press conference when asked why Covington was the fighter he wanted to face. “Stylistically, that guy was supposed to beat me any Sunday. From the physical point of view, from the point of view of mental warfare, there are not many boxes that you can check that favor me for this fight.
“But how can I say that I want to be a champion if I don’t want to fight these guys? Sometimes the best guys are the hardest for you stylistically. So, when I look at the top five, I think this is the most difficult fight for me. We’ll see what happens. If I fall short, I lose, but I want the best, so I have to fight the best and this is the guy. “
Covington comes from an unbalanced victory over former champion and former training partner Tyron Woodley, which ended an heated rivalry that had been around for years.
Since then, the former interim welterweight champion has been in talks for a final showdown against another former teammate of Jorge Masvidal, but no deal has been struck.
Chiesa cannot say with certainty whether his call will attract Covington’s attention, but he is letting the far right arsonist know that there is at least one welterweight in the squad more than willing to sign the contract to fight him.
“Not many guys are asking to fight Colby Covington,” said Chiesa. “The only guys I can think of are me and Belal Muhammed and [Gilbert] Burns. Burns asked to fight him. But let’s see what happens.
“It was a straight shot. Usually, getting into a fight, I’m always thinking about who I’m going to call next and I kind of have an idea in my head. This fight, it was a clean slate, and I don’t know, maybe I should be a professional fighter or something, it was totally hip. “
Hoping to stay active in 2021, after staying out most of last year, Chiesa won’t be spending much time chasing Covington. But he is hopeful that the fight may come as he continues to seek a path that will lead him to the title race.
“We will see what happens,” he said. “If he gets Jorge Masvidal’s fight, more strength for him. This is a great fight. They probably do The last fighter or something. We will see what happens, but you have to shoot this sport ”.