by 
After pursuing the match for almost a year without success, Ian Machado Garry was as stunned as anyone to see Colby Covington take his place against Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63.
Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) originally hoped to fight Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in the Dec. 14 main event in Tampa, Fla., but was instead paired with Buckley. But then welterweight champion Belal Muhammad fell from Saturday’s UFC 310 in Las Vegas, putting Machado Garry in a co-main event showdown with fellow undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov on Saturday at the T -Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The shakeup then saw Covington emerge for the first time since his third title failure against then-champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December 2023, taking the short-term headliner with Buckley.
“I was boiling,” Machado Garry said Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “How do you think I feel? Because I screamed and screamed about fighting this man from the rafters. This man made videos about me, my wife, my kids – talking about all this shit. And here’s this man who avoids I love the plague, and then the second I take on the scariest man in the division, he’s like, “Oh, I’m going to fight in Florida.”
“It proves, it just shows that he is a coward, that he wants nothing to do with me. The truth is I already know I beat him. I know I already beat him mentally .He’s weak. He’s an absolute coward, and I think he’s going to go out there and get completely screwed by Joaquin Buckley.
Related
Shavkat Rakhmonov before UFC 310: “In this weight category, I’m a problem for everyone”
Video: UFC 310 “Countdown” for Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry
Joaquin Buckley: Ian Machado Garry beats Shavkat Rakhmonov ‘narrowly’ at UFC 310
Machado Garry vs. Covington, a lost cause?
UFC CEO Dana White called Machado Garry vs. Rakhmonov a title eliminator at 170 pounds. The winner will face Muhammad in his first title defense in 2025, and if Machado Garry is the one to win the belt, he admits a booking with Covington could be lost for good.
“I understand the type of person Colby Covington is,” Garry Machado said. “He’s someone who tries to stay relevant by calling out people who generate traction. Myself, Shavkat, Belal Muhammad – even Charles (Oliveira) at one point. He was saying he wanted to fight Charles. This is all to keep his name relevant because his stock is plummeting because no one cares about him anymore.
“I want this fight because of all the trash he said, but I’m well aware that when I beat Shavkat on Saturday night, I’m the one booked against Belal Muhammad for the world title in 2025. I I’m going to go out there and win this world title, and Colby Covington is far, far in the rearview mirror.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ian Machado Garry destroys ‘absolute coward’ Colby Covington for replacing him at UFC Tampa
