It looks like Ian Machado Garry is going to draw a blank in his pursuit of Colby Covington, for now at least. 

The Irishman has been in vocal pursuit of former three-time welterweight title challenger Covington since moments after his split decision victory over Geoff Neal in February; name-checking ‘Chaos’ as being a stepping stone in the direction of his world title aspirations.

After initially appearing open to the grudge match, Covington has more recently switched gears and suggested that the fight would do little for his own ranking position on the 170-pound ladder. However, in recent months Covington had been vocal in his own pursuit of a fight with Stephen Thompson — a fighter who is two spots beneath seventh-ranked Machado Garry in the welterweight title picture.

But with Machado Garry now apparently not an option, Covington has suggested another possible dance partner: the former lightweight (155-pound) champion Charles Oliviera.

“I don’t know if that ship will come back around… No one cares about the kid, he’s irrelevant, he doesn’t have any high-profile wins and he does nothing for my career,” Covington said during one of his frequent appearances on Submission Radio, as noted by Bloody Elbow. “He’s not serious about business, so the ship’s sailed and I’ll fight whoever I want to fight when I want to fight.”

And as such, the recently defeated Charles Oliveira is a more attractive opponent he said.

“I want legacy fights; I think a guy like Charles Oliveira makes sense,” Covington, who forged his MMA ‘heel’ persona on the back of insulting Brazilian fighters, said.

“I’m the king of f*cking Brazil, everybody knows I run that f*cking country; all the women love me, all the men in Brazil want to be like me so Charles Oliveira, if you really want to come up to welterweight, and you want big fights, let’s see if you are about it or if you’re just talk,” he said. “If you want to come up here and walk the walk, let’s see.”

“He’s a bigger name [compared to Machado Garry] that’s a former champion, someone who’s actually done something in this business, someone that’s actually relevant,” Covington explained. “Is he [Oliveira] going to defend his country or is going to go into retirement knowing that Colby Covington is the owner of Brazil.”

“He’s a huge lightweight, it’s not healthy and it’s not sustainable [to make weight at 155-pounds]; we’re probably exactly the same weight, so we’re very comparable in size but skill? No, that’s where we’re not comparable. I beat him everywhere. I’m a better jiu-jitsu artist than him, I’m a better striker, I’m just a better all-around mixed martial artist.”