The lead-up to UFC 286 hasn’t been short of any shocks and surprises. After Colby Covington’s appearance during the weigh-ins, stepping in as the backup for the main event between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman, another welterweight came out making a rather unexpected disclosure. Providing a screenshot of a message that the fighter apparently sent to one of his acquaintances, he shockingly accused ‘Chaos’ of ducking him from a possible fight on this weekend’s card.

Tweeting his displeasure at UFC’s choice of backup, this welterweight accused the 35-year-old of backing out from a possible fight at this weekend’s card. Following the tweet, MMA fans reacted to his accusations as many of them commended Covington for making the smarter choice in posting to not fight him.

UFC welterweight reveals text messages claiming that he was scheduled to fight Colby Covington at UFC 286

The fighter in question here is number fourth-ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad, who was cornered by none other than former lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in his last fight. ‘Remember the Name’ had repeatedly called out the California born ahead of this event, with the fighter even claiming the former interim champ was ducking him. Now, after ‘Chaos’ weighed in as the backup shocking the MMA community, Muhammad seemed to have been particularly disappointed.

Expressing his disapproval, the 34-year-old tweeted a snapshot of a text message he had evidently sent to one of his friends. The conversation revealed that he was indeed scheduled to fight Covington at UFC, London. Although it was quite apparent from the text messages that it was speculation even at that point, it still serves up quite a story for UFC fans.

Following this, fans thronged the Twitter thread with many of them rooting for Covington.

Fans react to Belal Muhammad’s accusations on Covington

A few fans compared Covington‘s larger popularity as a reason for him to end up as the backup for the UFC 286 main event.

One fan questioned why Covington would choose to fight Muhammad and risk a loss when he could end up as the next title contender.

There was clearly no lack of fans commending ‘Chaos’ for making the right decision.

The common theme here definitely was Covington‘s logical decision to make weight and keep himself in the good books of the matchmakers. Fighters who usually make weight as backup are often given priority in their next bouts; ‘Chaos’ could find himself in a favorable position once UFC 286 gets wrapped up.

For the 35-year-old, this could mean a possible fight with the winner of the main event. But despite such speculations, ultimately there’s no such guarantee for any of the top contenders.

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Belal Muhammad himself is considered one of the deserving fighters for a shot at the welterweight gold. And his disappointment with today’s turn of events is quite natural from his perspective.

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What do you think of Covington stepping in as the backup to the UFC 286 main event? Is Belal Muhammad correct in claiming ‘Chaos’ backed out of the fight? Let us know in the comment section below.