Colby Covington answers Bo Nickal’s White House challenge: ‘He got knocked out by a Dutch grappler’
MMA Fighting
February 28, 2026
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 16: (L-R) Colby Covington talks to former United States president Donald Trump at the beginning of the UFC welterweight championship fight during the UFC 296 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Colby Covington will do whatever it takes to fight at UFC White House, including taking on Bo Nickal.
A one-time interim welterweight champion, Covington is perhaps best known in MMA as President Donald Trump’s biggest fan. So given that, it’s no surprise that Covington is deeply interested in competing at the UFC White House card in June. But there’s one problem: he’s not sure if he will.
“I think it’s 50/50,” Covington told Mike Heck of MMA Fighting. “This is what my whole life has come to: wanting to compete on this card. This is going to be on the South Lawn of the White House. Who is the guy who brought politics into the sport? It was me. It was Colby Covington in 2019 when he went on the mic and said, ‘Hey, I’m bringing this world championship belt to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, I’m going to put it on the sitting President’s desk.’ …
“So, I hope so. I want it so much. I’ve been talking to Hunter Campbell the last couple weeks. I told him, I’ll fight anybody. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who you pick. I could tell you a couple matchups that I think are fun matchups, that I think the fans would like, but ultimately, it’s your business, and it’s your decision. So, hopefully, Hunter will bless me with the opportunity to fight at the White House. But truly, I don’t know.”
Though UFC CEO Dana White recently said the promotion had set its plans for the event, it’s still unclear exactly what sort of matchups the UFC wants for this once-in-a-lifetime event. However, collegiate wrestling standout and rising UFC middleweight Bo Nickal has been calling for a showdown with Covington at the White House for months now, with the two going back and forth through the media. And while Covington has not seemed super interested in that fight, if that’s what it takes to fight on the White House lawn, he’s in.
“If that’s the best that they can come up with, for sure,” Covington said. “It’s a great matchup. How’s he going to hurt me? He’s not going to take me down and hold me down. He can’t strike. He’s scared to strike; he’s scared to get hit in the face. His body is like a pillow-top down comforter. You touch him in the body, he’s going to fall over. He got knocked out by a Dutch grappler. …
“Bo got beat up by a Dutch grappler, bro. You got kneed and elbowed, and you quit before the knee even hit you. So, he’s a quitter. It’s an easy fight.”
That being said, if he had his druthers, Nickal would not be Covington’s first choice. Though the former interim welterweight champion has talked about moving up to 185 pounds recently, it’s not the weight class he’s focused on at the moment. But if he must for the White House, then that’s what will happen.
“If that’s what UFC wants and it’s the only option I have, then of course, yeah, I’m taking that fight,” Covington reiterated. “I’ve never turned down a fight in the history of this company. You can ask anybody at UFC. I’m a company man. I accept any fight they offer me. I just want to fight at the White House, so if I have to go to ‘85 to do it, then so be it.
“But I’d like to be at 170. Welterweight’s always been my weight. I have aspirations there. I was the world champion in 2019 there, so I’m hoping we can find a big fight at welterweight.”
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Originally published on MMA Fighting on 2/28/2026