Colby Covington‘s over-the-top persona seems tailor-made for the world of professional wrestling, and he is already making plans for when and how he’d like to make the transition from the UFC Octagon to a WWE ring.
“I would say probably 2021,” Covington said on SB Nation’s “What the Heck” show. “Not this summer, but next summer. I’ve been practicing moves and really working on my promo and mic skills and just control and slowing things down and understanding the art of wrestling.
“I want to make sure when I go there I make the biggest splash possible, because I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time, and I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to make money. When I go over there I want to make Brink’s truckloads of money.”
Covington would be following in the footsteps of a number of fighters who straddled the lines between MMA and pro wrestling — most notably former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. He said that he has been in touch with Rousey, as well as his friend and teammate Bobby Lashley, who currently works for WWE, and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, whose entrance music Covington uses for his UFC walkouts.
Covington says he met with Rousey during a WWE event in Miami, during which Covington said she expressed her enthusiasm for pro wrestling and how her life was far less stressful in WWE than it was in the UFC.
“Ronda Rousey, the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time. It’s good to learn from her and see her and how she’s handling the transition from MMA to pro wrestling,” Covington said. “I think I’m going to have a good grasp of it. I grew up amateur wrestling and I know how to act, I know how to sell, and everybody knows I know how to entertain, so I think it’s going to be a smooth transition when I go to the WWE in 2021.”
Covington also expressed his appreciation for WWE running shows in spite of the restrictions in place to battle the coronavirus pandemic, saying he has “a lot of love and respect for Vince McMahon and what he’s done for the business model of the WWE.”
And while Covington would likely have to receive permission from the UFC to perform in WWE because of his current UFC contract status, he feels that given the chance, he can bring a lot of value to the world of pro wrestling.
“Everybody knows I do good business, I pull numbers, people want to see me, I’m entertaining, and people are divided on me,” he said. “They hate me and they love me, but it’s all the same thing at the end of the day.”