UFC on FOX 22's Colby Covington calls out all top-10 welterweights: 'I think I deserve my respect now'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With four finishes in six fights, Colby Covington has had quite the convincing UFC run so far.

As evidenced by most of his interviews, it’s not like the self-assured Covington is oblivious to that. Heading to Saturday’s UFC on FOX on the heels of a submission and a TKO, he’s in fact quite pleased with his evolution into an increasingly well-rounded mixed martial artist.

Still, his record has been tarnished not that long ago. And, in order to keep things going his way, Covington constantly reminds himself of the one time they didn’t.

“It’s still in my head,” Covington said of his first-round submission loss to Warlley Alves at UFC 194. “I think about that every day. It was my one big hiccup in my career and on the biggest stage, the (UFC lightweight champion) Conor McGregor card.

“So it really hurt me deeply, but it made me go to the drawing board and made me focus on what I need to focus on and that’s being a well-rounded martial artist, not just a wrestler.

“I still watch (the fight) here and there and it hurts. It gives this fire inside of me that there’s no man that’s going to break my will right now. I think about that fight a lot and it’s really motivated me to step my game up and I’m going to show you I’m on a different level this Saturday.”

In order to prove his point, Covington (10-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) needs to get past Bryan Barberena (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who brings in back-to-back wins of his own –  two upsets, the first a submission of Saturday’s co-headliner Sage Northcutt, followed by a decision over the then-undefeated Alves.

The welterweights square off in a FS1-televised scrap on the preliminary portion of UFC on FOX 22 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. The main card, headlined by Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson, airs on FOX.

While Covington respects the “resilient” MMA Lab product, he believes he’s going to prove he’s at “a different level” than Barberena’s previous competition. And then, looking further down the road, Covington wants to add a well-ranked fighter to his list of victims.

After all, it’s about time he gets the recognition that he thinks he’s due.

“I think with my style of wrestling and my pressure fighting,” Convington said. “I feel like guys don’t give me the respect I deserve. I think I deserve my respect now. I’ve got five wins in the UFC, I’ve got four finishes. The one fighter I didn’t finish was Mike Pyle, when he was No. 14 in the world and I dominated him, so I feel like I’m in the upper echelon of the division now and I want to get a top-10 fight.

“I don’t want to be top-15. I want to be top-10 and I want to be working my way to a title shot, because I believe it’s my destiny to win the title. So I’m calling out everybody. Whoever’s in the top-10, I want them all.”

While the callouts were pretty wide-reaching, Covington does have one specific target in mind: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, No. 13 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings. And Covington’s beef, it seems, has a personal ring to it.

“As far as ‘Cowboy’ goes, I just don’t like his antics,” Covington said. “I’ve fought in like four cards with him and he’s always all buddy-buddy before the fights, ‘Let’s hug,’ this and that. Backstage, ‘Bro, you’re my friend,’ but then it comes fight time, you know, that takes the pressure off him.

“Look what guys like Nate Diaz, when they fought him, they were like, ‘No, we can’t be friends, we can be friends afterward and hug afterward but don’t hug me before.’ That’s just kind of what I think about ‘Cowboy’ and I’m ready for this next step-up.”

Clearly, Covington isn’t lacking in the confidence department. So what’s behind such strong belief in himself?

“I just think from an early age,” Covingtong said. “But also, as soon as I started my MMA journey, I was training with the best guys in the world at America Top Team. Training with Robbie Lawler (former UFC welterweight champion), Tyron Woodley (current UFC welterweight champion), Hector Lombard, Thiago Alves (onetime UFC title challenger).

“And then when I have coaches that are world-class coaches, like Mike Thomas Brown, he’s a world champion, he’s been there. So I know these guys have been there and they can help me get to there, so, it just gives me really good confidence and I just know I’m going to be world champion someday.”

To hear more from Covington on Saturday’s scrap, the personal win over Max Griffin and his title aspirations, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC on FOX 22, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.