Bo Nickal claims that Colby Covington declined an opportunity to face him at the UFC’s upcoming White House card.
Nickal is scheduled to fight Kyle Daukaus at “UFC Freedom 250,” at the White House on June 14. The bout comes months after a heated public exchange between Nickal and Covington at the Real American Freestyle 5 post-event press conference in January.
Following that confrontation, it appeared the two could settle their differences inside the Octagon. However, when the card for the White House event was officially announced over the weekend, Covington’s name was absent.
Speaking Monday on The Ariel Helwani Show, Nickal said he pushed for the matchup and believes the UFC attempted to make the fight happen.
“Colby was a guy that wasn't really on my radar until the Real American Freestyle event in January,” Nickal said. “And he kind of spouted off about me quite a bit. And I was like, ‘OK, well, we can fight.’ And then post-match for him, he said that he wanted to move up to middleweight and fight at 185. So I was like, ‘Wow, this is perfect. Everything's lining up and let's do it.’”
Nickal said he requested the fight and believes the promotion approached Covington about the matchup.
“So obviously I asked for him and the UFC tried to make the fight,” Nickal said. “I know they talked to him extensively. Long story short, he just wouldn't do it.”
According to Nickal, Covington may have even been given an ultimatum if he wanted to compete at the historic event.
“I think (the UFC) even told him, like, ‘If you want to be on this (White House) card, you have to fight Bo,’” Nickal said. “And he said no. So he would rather be a coward and not fight me than be on the White House card, which is a once-in-a-lifetime—well, once-ever—opportunity.”
Nickal also questioned Covington’s decision given the former welterweight title challenger’s long-standing public support for former U.S. president Donald Trump.
“What's wild to me about that is that he has made his persona into the Trump guy, right?” Nickal said. “Every chance he's wearing the hat, he went over the top with it when not a lot of athletes were doing that, especially back in like 2018 and 2019. And now you get the opportunity to fight there and you don’t take it.”
Nickal further insisted that the UFC definitively offered Covington the bout, pushing back on claims that the fight was never formally proposed.
“A hundred percent,” Nickal said. “He tried to lie and say, ‘this, that, blah, blah, blah.’ They a hundred percent offered him, tried to make the fight, and then he was in the media saying, ‘Oh, I would fight Bo.’ Well, they offered him the fight for a fact. So, you know, I just don't understand why he didn't take it at that point, if he's saying this stuff in the media.”
Instead, Nickal will move forward with his fight against Daukaus at UFC Freedom 250, while questions remain about whether his rivalry with Covington will eventually play out inside the Octagon.
