Khamzat Chimaev Rips Colby Covington Ahead of UFC 273: 'He's Gonna Go to the Cops'

Khamzat Chimaev is doing his best to get a fight with Colby Covington. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday's UFC 273 event, Chimaev called the former UFC interim welterweight champion "a b---h" who doesn't actually want to fight him. 

Chimaev and Covington have been going back and forth through the media for months. 

In an October interview with Red Corner MMA (h/t Jed Meshew of MMAFighting.com), Chimaev called Covington a "stupid American bulls--t boy" and said he was "coming for" him. 

Speaking to BT Sports last month (h/t Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie), Covington said Chimaev needed to win some fights before he would consider a bout with him. 

"Earn your way up and no problem—I’ll kick you right back down," Covington said. "I love destroying hype trains. I’m going to destroy one hype train this weekend in (Jorge) Masvidal. He’s never going to be the same ever again and no one is going to care about his fights."

Covington is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Masvidal at UFC 272 on March 5. He lost two of his previous three bouts, with both losses coming against Kamaru Usman for the welterweight championship. 

Chimaev has only been in UFC for two years. He signed with the promotion after competing in Brave Combat Federation. The 27-year-old is 10-0 in his mixed martial arts career (4-0 in UFC). All four of his UFC wins have come via stoppage, including three in the first round. 

Saturday's event from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville will be Chimaev's biggest test yet. He is scheduled to fight Gilbert Burns in a welterweight showdown. 

UFC president Dana White has yet to announce Covington's next opponent. Chimaev will almost certainly put himself on the radar with a victory over Burns at UFC 273.