COLBY COVINGTON claimed Conor McGregor has "zero" chance of beating him and warned against fighting "real men" at welterweight.
Covington, 34, is the No1 ranked contender at 170lb but has twice been beaten by champion Kamaru Usman, 34, on points and by knockout.
Usman is the man McGregor wants to face upon his return, which would mean jumping from the 155lb lightweight division to welterweight.
If the Irishman was to step up, Covington would welcome a fight and goaded it would be impossible for him to lose.
He said on Nelk Boys' : "I would but he's not going to fight someone when he knows there's a zero per cent chance to win.
"There's no luck factor, he can't even hit lightning in a bottle, realistically I beat that guy 10 out of 10 times."
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McGregor, 33, has fought three times at welterweight, firstly losing to Nate Diaz, 36, in 2016 before winning the rematch.
He also returned at 170lb in 2020 to knock out Donald Cerrone, 39, in 40 seconds but soon dropped back down to lightweight.
There he was knocked out by Dustin Poirier, 33, before breaking his leg in their trilogy bout in July.
McGregor now looks set to eye Usman's welterweight belt but Covington shot down his chances.
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He said: "I think he's probably trying to talk himself up and get himself hyped up, but he's not going to come over here and fight real men.
"He's a great fighter, he's done good business for himself and he definitely holds a lot of L's over Dustin Poirier.
"But if you're talking about 170 that's not his weight class."