What more can anyone say about Colby Covington‘s performance over the weekend during UFC 296? While “Chaos” and his supporters had hoped for a championship belt underneath the Christmas tree, Covington walked away from the T-Mobile Arena with just a lump of coal to show for his performance.
The action that transpired late Saturday evening was the onetime UFC Interim Welterweight Champion’s worst outing in the famed Octagon. You could watch that main event on a loop for the next 24 hours and come away with the impression that he was outclassed on just the first viewing.
With Colby Covington now having dropped three out of his last five fights under the top MMA promotion’s signature, he has to answer several questions over the coming weeks and months while he waits to receive a contract offer for his next fight. What does this man have to do to try and stay in Dana White’s good graces while also getting back in the championship conversation at 170 lbs.?
Covington Can’t Talk His Way Out of This Recent Stretch
While Covington is known for being a powder keg thanks to his use of the spoken word, he has to cut back on the explosive promos ahead of whoever he has to face inside the cage next. Even though his WWE-style heel antics generate clicks on the Internet and pay-per-view buys, his mouth has drawn the ire of the MMA community of late.
It’s due to his wholly inappropriate remarks made against his opponent Leon Edwards‘ deceased father ahead of last Saturday’s contest. While Covington promised that the UFC 296 would be “another 1776” for Edwards last Wednesday at the pre-fight press conference, his comments made later in the week are the lowest of the low.
“On Saturday night, I’m going to bring you to a place you don’t want to be,” Covington told Edwards late Thursday. “I’m going to bring you to the seventh level of hell. We’ll say what’s up to your dad while we’re there.”
Classless Comments Rightly Slammed by White
Edwards’ father was killed when Leon was 13 years of age. Any sane man, woman, or child should be, and was, outraged by how Colby Covington conducted himself during the back end of fight week in Vegas.
Although Covington will likely never apologize for the disgusting remarks made before UFC 296, Dana White didn’t hold back, condemning what the No. 3 contender at welterweight said.
“What I say, it’s true: We’re in the fight game and lots of mean things are said. (But) one of the things I don’t like is family (trash talk.) When you start going after family, whether it’s the kids, the wife, the parents, it’s such a nasty thing to do. But again, this is one of those sports where you say horrible things and 24 hours later, it goes down.”
“I don’t ever tell anyone what to say,” the UFC president continued. “You know what we will say: ‘Guys, when you go out on that stage, do not touch each other.’ Everybody thinks I love when these things break. No, I don’t love it. More importantly, the commission doesn’t love it, and the commission is the government.”
Covington Makes Excuses After the Defeat
Like a petulant child, Colby Covington refused to accept that he was defeated this past weekend in the UFC 296 main event. Instead, he made excuse after excuse for his poor performance.
It started even before Bruce Buffer announced the scorecards on Saturday night. If you watched the fight, you saw the challenger raise both arms before walking back to his corner in victory, something that everyone but the man himself knew wasn’t a win.
Former US President and 2024 Republican contender Donald Trump (we promise this is the only mention of Trump in this article, aside from direct quotations) was in Las Vegas for the main card to root Covington on. After the fight, Covington believed that the onetime host of The Apprentice was in the building was why he lost.
“I thought I had the win”, Covington mused. “I thought I did enough, but you know, the judges have never favored me. They hate me because I support Trump and everyone hates Trump in this building, so, you know, it is what it is. Life goes on.”
“Chaos” Doesn’t Get It
That is the single most outrageous claim this guy has ever made. Anyone with a working brain saw and understood that Leon Edwards took Colby Covington to school, walking him to the bus stop and the classroom, all the while over 25 minutes of action.
Political leanings have never had and will never have anything to do with the goings-on inside the Octagon. It’s like the saying goes: “Check your biases at the door. Hang up your hats.”
The fact that Colby Covington even had the gall to insinuate that the judges scored against him due to who he supports at the ballot box is mindless. He’s just saying what he wants to hear at this point.
Steps to Correct the Problem
Now that the dust has settled from this title fight, Covington must do a few things. First, he must shut off his devices and social media apps and keep them turned off for a while.
Distractions are a deterrent. Secondly, he has to get in the film room and lock himself in there for several hours a day, watching fight after fight to diagnose what’s gone right and wrong for him.
Finally, once Covington accepts his next fight, regardless of adversary, he must devote himself to an intense training camp and not do so many media interviews. While buzzwords help sell the fight, the competitors have to turn up the volume in camp so they can be at full strength once the cage door shuts.
Final Thoughts
Colby Covington will go down as the biggest heel in UFC history, that much is certain, but he will have to get back to basics to keep going. If his next fight is all sizzle and no steak, like it was last Saturday, he’s in trouble.
