UFC veteran Michael Chiesa improved his winning run to three in a row at UFC Atlanta. After finishing his last two opponents, ‘Maverick’ was looking to earn another finish, but could only defeat his opponent, Court McGee, via decision. But the real kicker came when former interim champion Colby Covington‘s name popped up.

A couple of months ago, Colby Covington decided to throw some verbal jabs at Michael Chiesa, claiming that the 37-year-old is an example of what a winner of The Ultimate Fighter should not be. “You don’t want to become an irrelevant b-m who rides people’s meats – DC in particular for public transportation. Don’t be that guy riding off other people’s meats. Become a star. Be your own f–ing guy that has to sell himself,” ‘Chaos’ stated in an interview. So, naturally, fans would start thinking that maybe Chiesa would like to return the favor and call him out for a fight after those incendiary words. But ‘Maverick’ doesn’t see any sense in going for Covington.

Michael Chiesa claims that he doesn’t feel like a potential fight against Colby Covington would ever materialize. Stating that he and the whole MMA media would only waste their time talking about the controversial star, the 37-year-old revealed that he’s got other things to do, which include a few UFC broadcasting gigs in the coming months. He aims to make his return in December, nonetheless, but doesn’t want to engage with his former TUF 15 rival just to make some unnecessary headlines.

As one of the reports at the post-fight interview asked, “No Colby callout?” Michael Chiesa replied, “Why waste my time? It’s a waste of my time. It’s a waste of your guys’ time.” He further added, “It’s good, I mean, you say his name, it makes a headline, and I’m just done making that headline. It’s just pointless.”

Meanwhile, there seems to be no animosity between Michael Chiesa and Colby Covington. In fact, ‘Maverick’ had some pretty pleasant words for the former welterweight interim champion, despite their heated exchanges. Here’s what the veteran had to say.

Colby Covington is a “nice guy off camera,” claims Michael Chiesa

Michael Chiesa has been getting questions about a potential fight against Colby Covington since the start of the fight week. He has repeatedly shut that down, just like he did after his win at UFC Atlanta, even though it would have been a big fight. That’s especially because ‘Chaos’ has other things going on, like his new online streaming endeavor. Moreover, he claims to have no feelings of malice towards Covington, even though he likes to trash others on camera, he’s not that bad of a guy off camera, which is something even UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping claimed a couple of years ago.

“I think he’s going to go a different direction in his career, and I think being a streamer is what he’s pursuing right now. He doesn’t have the desire to compete as much as he did before,” Michael Chiesa stated before UFC Atlanta. “It’s his loss and the fans’ loss because he brings a lot of heat the way he builds his fight, and I have the style to beat him, but move on, it’s over. He’s a nice guy off camera, d–k on camera.”

Well, we are more than likely to get a response from Colby Covington to Michael Chiesa’s recent statement about fighting him. And while ‘Maverick’ has decided to move past him, Kevin Holland has expressed wanting to fight the former interim champion. Considering Covington’s last contest ended in a doctor stoppage loss to Joaquin Buckley, is that the fight to make?