Colby Covington keeps digging himself a deeper hole with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after not getting the welterweight title shot he wanted.
Less than one week after UFC president Dana White confirmed that “Chaos” is no loner the interim welterweight champion, having defeated Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 to claim the title, Covington has made it clear that he’s no longer going to play nice with the massive MMA promotion.
“I’m just moving on with my life,” Covington told TSN. “I’m not going to be the nice guy anymore. I’m not going to be the guy that tells lies about the UFC and tries to cover for the UFC like they’re so great and everything’s fine and dandy.
“I’ve done so many favors for the UFC, flown all over the world, fought for little money against top contenders, fought for entry-level money. I’ve never complained, always been a company man, never failed a steroid test. Never done anything wrong, literally never.”
This situation has gotten so out of hand that Covington, who is just 30 years of age and has compiled a professional MMA record of 14-1 (9-1 UFC), is threatening to walk away from the sport. That is unless he gets the title shot he was promised.
“I’m the biggest draw in this division right now,” Covington proclaimed. “I’m not fighting for anything less than I deserve and I don’t care what they say. I’ll stand up for what’s right and if that means never fighting again then that means never fighting again.
“I’ve already built a great life for myself. I came from the projects. I came from trailer parks, growing up with one parent, just my mom, having to work four jobs. I don’t need anything anymore. I’ve already made enough money where I’m healthy and I have investments and I have enough going on in my life that I don’t need to fight ever again. You may never see me fight again. That’s a possibility right now.”
I guess UFC better pony up that “undisputed champion” money.
Despite these rants, it’s highly unlikely that UFC will budge and feed into Covington’s antics. At the end of the day, the promotion waits for no fighter. Just ask current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who has already warned his nemesis of his wrong doings.
At this point, Covington may be better off laying low and keeping his name out of the headlines. The more he pokes the bear that is UFC the less likely he is to get his way.