Last November, Colby Covington packed up his bags and headed to Brazil.
Covington scored a third round submission victory over Wagner Silva to begin the action from Uberlandia, and proceeded to stick around and watch three more key welterweight scraps later in the night.
One of those featured Covington’s UFC 194 opponent, Warlley Alves, who earned a co-main event win over Alan Jouban that same night.
The two unbeaten 170-pound fighters will square off this December 12 at UFC 194 as part of a night that will see both the UFC featherweight (Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor) and middleweight (Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold) belts on the line.
For Covington (8-0), the opportunity to meet Alves was one he had his sights set on.
“Warlley was definitely on my radar because he co-main evented and won the the show I fought on for the UFC in Brazil,” said Covington, during an exclusive interview with FightLine. “I figured our paths were destined to cross.”
Knowing he will be part of a card that boasts two title matchups and some of the biggest names and draws in the sport, the American Top Team-trained Covington sees this as a perfect chance to shine bright under the spotlight.
“It is business as usual fighting on this mega card,” he said, “but it is nice to actually have a training camp instead of short notice. I plan on making the most of it and putting on a performance to remember.”
After taking care of Silva in November for his second straight UFC submission win and third overall, Covington fought on the Memorial Day Weekend UFC 187 event against veteran Mike Pyle. He earned a decision, going the distance for just the third time in his career.
“Pyle was a good win in my career,” said the former Iowa Central Community College and Oregon State University wrestler. “But I have been envisioning this for a long time and this is just the beginning.”
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