Colby Covington is trying his best to crash UFC 235’s festivities this weekend in Las Vegas and it’s kind of working.
Not only is “Chaos” capturing the attention of Kamaru Usman after heckling him at open workouts with a “Make America Great Again” hat and a megaphone (see it here), but the brash welterweight seems to be getting under the skin of UFC president Dana White after invading the boss’ blackjack time (see it here).
Remember, Covington’s Las Vegas takeover stems directly from him getting snubbed for a UFC welterweight title shot. That opportunity has since gone to Usman, who will face champion Tyron Woodley this weekend at UFC 235.
Such an aggressive Vegas takeover comes with immediate backlash and Covington is quickly finding out that he’s rubbing everyone the wrong way. I guess it’s good news because that’s exactly what the 31-year-old is trying to do.
.@ColbyCovMMA shares what happened after the camera stopped when he confronted Dana White #TLTS @lthomasnews pic.twitter.com/HciRGPGw3j
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) March 1, 2019
“He was pissed. He was real pissed,” Covington said of his run-in with White during a recent appearance on The Luke Thomas Show. “But I don’t give a shit. I’m not here to make him happy and I wanted to let him know that this ain’t fair. There’s justice. You robbed me out of a title fight this week. I’m supposed to be fighting for the title. All the fans want to see me fight for the title, they don’t want to see f*cking ‘Snoozeman’. That’s like they’re giving ‘em shit and they’re trying to say, ‘Oh, it’s filet mignon.’
“I’m the filet mignon, I’m the people’s champ, I’m what everybody came to see. So he was pissed, but you know what? I don’t care about his feelings. I don’t care about anybody’s feelings. Him and everybody else, they’re a bunch of snowflakes.”
Covington, who captured the interim welterweight title last June with a beatdown of former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos (later stripped), also discussed what was said during his impromptu conversation with White .
“We talked for like a good five minutes,” Covington said. “I wanted to let him know what’s going on and this isn’t fair and I’m not going to be treated like this. I wanted to let him know that I can find him at any moment. He’s not safe, that’s the whole ‘nerd bash’ movement. No nerd, no virgin is safe. I will find you, I don’t care where you live. I will track you down, I will hunt you down, and I will get an explanation for this. And I can make your life a living hell.
“He just found out. That was just a little glimpse. That wasn’t even me trying last night. That was me easily f*cking finding out where he’s at. Just imagine what it’s gonna be like if he doesn’t give me a title shot after this weekend. I will find him, I will hunt him down and make his life a living hell.”
Really, it’s surprising that the conversation lasted that long. If you remember, Covington absolutely blasted White last month daring him and UFC to release him. It was just another step in Covington’s process to somehow lock down the next welterweight title shot.
White, who rarely takes these things to heart, spoke about his run-in with “Chaos” during UFC 236’s press conference in Las Vegas (replay here).
“Everybody thinks I hate this kid. I don’t hate this kid,” said White. “Even after last night, I don’t hate the kid. Last night wasn’t as bad as it looked on video. It looked like whatever but we were cool and we talked last night and face to face he gets it.
“He knows he didn’t take the fight so he didn’t get the fight.”
For now, Covington will have to wait and see what UFC does following the conclusion of Woodley vs. Usman tomorrow night at UFC 235.