Colby Covington has targeted Jack Della Maddalena as the opponent he would like to fight next.
“We’ve been talking about this fight with Jack Della Maddalena,” Covington revealed on Submission Radio. “I think it makes a lot of sense. He got a big win in my hometown in Miami last time he was out here so he has a little bit of a name out here. He’s undefeated. He’s hungry. He’s fearless. He’s an exciting fighter.
“I think that’s a fight that the fans would be intrigued with. I think it’s a high-level fight. It’s a top contender fight that establishes who’s the next contender for the belt.”
The 36-year-old Covington is coming off an unsuccessful attempt to win the welterweight title last December, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards that’s left him sliding down to No.6 on the 170lb ladder.
That was Covington’s third failed attempt to seize the title, having previously lost to Kamaru Usman twice, though he did claim the interim belt back in 2018 after a win over Rafael dos Anjos, before being stripped of it due to suffering an injury.
As for the 28-year-old Maddalena, he is on a seven-fight winning streak since joining the UFC, beating the likes of Randy Brown, Kevin Holland and most recently KO’ing Gilbert Burns along the way.
As such he’s moved up to the No.4 spot on the rankings, two places above Covington.
