Colby Covington Makes Shock Appearance At UFC 286 Weigh-Ins, Weighs In As Back-Up

Colby Covington, UFC 286
Colby Covington, UFC 286 official weigh-in Credit: Jamie Theodosi/Cageside Press

This Friday morning, the UFC 286 weigh-ins took place ahead of the huge event at the o2 Arena, London, on Saturday.

First up on the scale, as always, was former UFC welterweight champion and one half of the main event, Kamaru Usman. To no surprise, he hit 170lbs on the dot.

The man who the event was built around was still yet to weigh in. In the meantime, a certain “Chaos” arrived. The former UFC interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington walked out from behind the curtain ready to weigh-in as the back-up for this monumental main event.

In professional fashion, the 35-year-old hit 170lbs even, making certain that if anything happened to the two men in the main event, he was on standby and ready for action.

Unfortunately for Covington though, the current champion, Leon Edwards, weighed in shortly after, also hitting championship weight, making the main event official.

Colby Covington’s last fight came against rival, Jorge Masvidal, back in March of last year. There has been a lot of speculation on social media as to why he has been away from action for almost over a year, but this Friday morning, he put the doubt to rest showing he is ready.

Word had spread during the week that Covington was in town, though the promotion was mum on him being a back-up fighter.

With Colby Covington unlikely to play a part in the event on Saturday night, what will he do from here? The UFC fans have been calling for him to fight the soaring Khamzat Chimaev, but if this afternoon is anything to go by, he wants another shot at undisputed gold.

UFC 286 takes place at the o2 Arena, London, this coming Saturday with a huge trilogy main event between current champion, Leon “Rocky” Edwards and former pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman.