Media Big John McCarthy says Covington never had championship level

[Unheralded Truth]

"Did you see who he called out?"

I'm not saying Colby Covington is not a good athlete, he is. He's good. He just can't reach that level. Kenny Florian was a good fighter, a talented guy and Kenny Florian had what I believe, I wanna say
three titleshots and lost. He couldn't get it done in any of those. That doesn't mean he's not a good fighter, it can happen where you just can't reach that pinnacle. You know? And there's gonna be
people out there saying "well, Colby won the interim". Nope, interim ain't crap. It's just not the same, cause there was somebody else that was actually better, sitting there with the title. It just says
that you're not that guy, to get to that level.

Did you see who he called out? Wonderboy! He's not calling out Shavkat (laughing). Again, who is it that he has fought to get his wins? They’ve been guys at 38, 39, 40; that’s the whole point.
You know? When he fought a 32-year-old, who was fast, look at what happens! Speed kills.

 

[markantony20]

Big Jon also said Yaroslav was the greatest welterweight in the world.

Soooo.

 

[Steve Fox]

Big Jon also said Yaroslav was the greatest welterweight in the world.

Soooo.

He isn't wrong about Colby though..

 

[svmr_db]

Not a fan of Colby these days but you can definitely claim he was championship level briefly given how competitive his fights with Usman were.

 

[markys00]

He isn't wrong about Colby though..

But he is. His fights with Usman prove it. It's just a dumb statement

 

[Legendary]

But he is. His fights with Usman prove it. It's just a dumb statement

Is Colby high level? Yeah but its not the same as being elite/champion material. The Usman fights proved that as he is 0-2 against Usman and got stopped by him and his jaw broken. Just because he played it safe in the second fight and it was more competitive doesn't mean they are on the same level. Usman is an all time great, where as Colby lost every important fight he had. Colby will only be remembered for sucking Trump's dick.

If Colby was on the same level then he would have belts to prove it. He hasn't had a relevant win in years. 0-3 in title fights and half his wins were against aging vets. Thats not championship material and the Leon fight proved it.

 

[Poirierfan]

Big John is a big dummy, there, I said it.

 

[svmr_db]

Is Colby high level? Yeah but its not the same as being elite/champion material. The Usman fights proved that as he is 0-2 against Usman and got stopped by him and his jaw broken. Just because he played it safe in the second fight and it was more competitive doesn't mean they are on the same level. Usman is an all time great, where as Colby lost every important fight he had. Colby will only be remembered for sucking Trump's dick.

The fact that you're bringing Trump into it shows you're a little too biased against Colby to compliment where his skills once were. You brought up the negatives about the Usman fights but not the positives.

Scores were all over the map for the first fight given how close it was prior to the stoppage, but one judge had Colby up 3-1 and it wasn't seen as a controversial scorecard. So yeah if you have a case to be minutes away from defeating Prime Usman you've clearly shown yourself to be championship level.

 

[World eater]

How convenient to say it after the battle. Hindsight and all that. Say it before if you want it to matter.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

I do tend to think Usman was actually a good style matchup for Colby, he was potentially vunerable to his hustling style with his relatively low output.

 

[Koala]

Fully disagree
If he was smart enough to fight Woodley before Usman, he would have been champ

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

I respect Big John , OG Pioneer... but anyone who has ever watched Bellator knows he says a bunch of crazy stuff... Plus he has been Anti-UFC for years.

 

[Steve Fox]

But he is. His fights with Usman prove it. It's just a dumb statement

He lost.. Two times and now against Leon. Unfortunately for Colby, numbers don't lie but truth be told he has three defeats versus champions in his 4 defeats record, so.. We can say he is above the rest.

Colby is WW Poirier or Gaethje.

 

[SakurabasEar]

I haven't been his fan as of late, but he's not wrong here

 

[OldBoy91]

Big Jon also said Yaroslav was the greatest welterweight in the world.

Soooo.

A lot of people who's opinions I respect did. Not saying Big John is one of those people however.

They were blinded by 27-0. His skillset never indicated he was the best at any point though. Great sure, maybe even elite, but at no point did I think Bellator had a stronger champ than the UFC did.

Edwards beats Amosov 9/10 times. Usman would have beat him too.

 

[pankrat]

A lot of people who's opinions I respect did. Not saying Big John is one of those people however.

They were blinded by 27-0. His skillset never indicated he was the best at any point though. Great sure, maybe even elite, but at no point did I think Bellator had a stronger champ than the UFC did.

Edwards beats Amosov 9/10 times. Usman would have beat him too.

The trully underrated guy is Jason Jackson. That guy is a tough match up for anybody

 

[Mammothman]

I agree with John, Colby matched very well with Usman but other than that he never beat a real contender to prove how elite he truly was, other than a smaller and old RDA his other opponents were clearly washed up.

 

[eddi]

He's correct, the only true shot colby had where he fought to win was the first usman fight, after that he settled for being considered second, then changed gyms and became picky he doesnt have that killer in him to win he's satisfied just fighting for the belt he cant finish his job

 

[lsa]

I would be more impressed if he said this before the fight not after.

 

[richardjohnson]

It’s hard to tell how good Colby really was because as soon as he got near the top of the division he became incredibly selective of who he fought. It was very clear that he was only interested in big names/title fights or fights he knew he could easily win against guys on their way out of the sport.