Colby Covington made a lot of enemies following his appearance at Thursday’s UFC 296 press conference in Las Vegas.
That’s nothing new for the outspoken welterweight title challenger, but even Colby Covington’s most staunch supporters can agree that ‘Chaos’ took things too far when he made an unnecessarily vile comment about Leon Edwards’ father who passed away when he was only 13 years old.
Everyone from Jon Jones, Jamahal Hill, and Sean Strickland lambasted Covington over his verbal low blow, but according to Covington, he was simply playing a role. At least, that’s what he tried to convey during an intense face-off with Edwards at the ceremonial weigh-ins 24 hours before his highly anticipated title tilt with Edwards.
Stepping in front of one another, ‘Rocky’ was still clearly upset and looked ready to throw hands right then and there. It was then that Covington could be heard saying, “I was in character.” He repeated the statement once more before Edwards would back away. The most recent episode of UFC 296 Embedded confirmed Covington’s comment at the 7:50 mark of the below video.
not the First Time Colby Covington’s Words Have Gotten him in trouble
Colby Covington fans will often regale you with tales of how their MAGA-loving hero was once on the verge of being released by the UFC before coming up with his over-the-top ‘Chaos’ persona. In most cases, that explanation is used to justify some of the more disgusting things that Covington says in his attempt to curry hype and chase clout.
Of course, not everyone is willing to accept that explanation. Especially when Covington makes things particularly personal, as was the case with his fight against Jorge Masvidal in March 2022.
“The guy’s a piece of sh*t,” Covington said in an interview with TheMACLife ahead of UFC 261. “He doesn’t care about his kids. I was just with his ex-wife yesterday.”
That and calling Masvidal a “deadbeat dad” was enough for ‘Gamebred’ to take things into his own hands, literally. Weeks removed from Covington’s unanimous decision victory over his former friend at UFC 272, Masvidal attacked ‘Chaos’ outside of a Miami steakhouse. Masvidal reportedly sucker-punched Covington in the incident, fracturing his tooth and causing head trauma.
Masvidal has since pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge. He was sentenced to time served.