Nathan Orchard Calls for Submission Underground Match with Colby Covington
Tenth Planet black belt Nathan Orchard has called out one of MMA’s brashest figures. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Orchard asked for a grappling match in Submission Underground against former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington.
Submission Underground would be a good landing spot for the match, if it were to happen. The promotion never shies away from matching submission grappling specialists against elite MMA fighters, and that’s exactly what this match is.
Orchard has competed for Submission Underground multiple times, most recently in June 2020 when he lost to Roberto Jimenez. He is one of 10th Planet’s top competitors and has found success competing in combat jiu-jitsu over the past couple of years.
Covington is currently the no. 1-ranked UFC welterweight. He last fought in September 2020, dismantling former champion Tyron Woodley. Prior to that, Covington suffered a hard-fought defeat to current champion Kamaru Usman to snap a seven-fight win streak.
Although Covington has no formal experience in submission grappling, he is far from a novice on the mat. He was a junior college national champion and Division I All-American wrestler, and he’s used that wrestling to reach the highest levels of MMA. With his talent for fighting coupled with his outspoken and brash personality, Covington is one of the UFC’s bigger names, even if that means fans might be tuning in to see him lose.
Will Orchard get his wish? It might not be much of a longshot. Covington doesn’t currently have a fight scheduled so he’s free to compete, and SUG specializes in these types of bouts.
