Colby Covington has discredited Jon Jones as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, suggesting that the designation should only go to a “clean-cut athlete” while also taking a dig at the fighter’s past legal troubles.
Covington is gearing up for an inexplicable third crack at the UFC welterweight title later this year, currently held by British national Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards. After spending a year lurking in the shadows, ‘Chaos’ re-emerged ahead of UFC 286, weighing in as the official backup for the trilogy bout between Edwards and former welterweight king Kamaru Usman.
Since then, Colby Covington has called out practically every fighter on the roster for one reason or another. This time, he’s taking aim at the general consensus GOAT of MMA, Jon Jones. During his latest interview, ‘Chaos’ sought to discredit an ESPN article calling ‘Bones’ the greatest fighter of all time. He even managed to deliver his own political spin on the reasoning.
“That’s opinion-based,” Covington told MSCS Media in response to Jones being called the greatest fighter of all time. “That’s whoever’s opinion that was writing that from ESPN that day. That’s cool, that’s your opinion but there’s probably 20, 30, 40 million people in America that don’t think the opposite. People in the Republican party respect people that are blue-collar, that have a clean slate, that aren’t breaking the law, doing these violent acts.
“Everybody knows the multiple steroid tests that he failed so how can you call yourself a clean-cut athlete and the greatest of all time when you cheated on multiple steroid tests and broke many laws? For me, the greatest fighter of all time has to be a good fighter in the cage and outside the cage” (h/t MMA Fighting).
Colby Covington Contradicts Himself by Nominating Another Steroid Absuer For GOAT Status
Jon Jones’ substance abuse, performance-enhancing or otherwise, has been well-documented over the years. But in an interesting twist, Colby Covington nominated another name for GOAT status that has his own lengthy history of steroid abuse.
“A guy that stands out to me: Chael Sonnen,” Covington said. “A guy from the same place that I came from. Oregon wrestling, those roots and became a larger-than-life figure and was able to transcend the sport and move the pay-per-view needle. And he’s a great person outside. A family man, fights for the republic, loves Donald Trump, God-fearing American. We need more guys like that on our side.”
In 2014, the same year Colby Covington debuted for the UFC, Chael Sonnen tested positive for an assortment of banned substances including human growth hormone (HGH), recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), anastrozole, and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Being his third time testing positive, Sonnen was suspended for two years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was subsequently fired by both the UFC and FOX who he had worked for as an analyst. Sonnen has also openly admitted to juicing on more than one occasion, even labeling himself an expert in the field.
It feels like Colby Covington is more concerned with a fighter’s political affiliation than their actual accomplishments inside the Octagon which is a little on the nose for a guy who has gone 2-2 in his last four fights, lacks a single win against a current top 15 opponent, and is staring down the barrel of a largely undeserved welterweight title opportunity.