Gilbert Burns is calling bullsh*t on Colby Covington’s claim that he broke his foot in the first round of his UFC 296 title fight with Leon Edwards.
After nearly two years on the shelf, Covington returned to the Octagon in December and walked straight into a third opportunity to claim welterweight gold. After coming up short on two separate occasions against then-titleholder Kamaru Usman, ‘Chaos’ was confident he had the skills to dethrone reigning champion Leon Edwards. Unfortunately, confidence was not enough. ‘Rocky’ controlled the fight for 25 minutes, stymying Covington’s offense and walking away with a decisive unanimous decision.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Covington offered up an excuse for his lackluster performance, claiming that he had broken his foot in the opening round which prevented him from utilizing his signature ground game. However, Covington offered up little evidence to prove that he had sustained any sort of injury — aside from a questionable image of an X-ray
Speaking with Hyon Ko of The AllStar, fellow welterweight contender Gilbert Burns cast doubt on Covington’s supposed injury, revealing that he himself saw Covington walking around Miami with no cast or noticeable issue following the fight with Edwards.
“He was going everywhere,” Burns said. “We saw him walking everywhere. The X-ray, I didn’t see his name on the X-ray. We saw this guy walking everywhere in Miami, playing poker. Going everywhere. I didn’t see no cast. I didn’t see anything so I don’t know. It’s very hard to believe anything that Colby says. You don’t know when he’s being true. When he’s being a character.”
Gilbert Burns questions the validity of Colby Covington’s X-ray:
“I saw him walking everywhere. I don’t see his name on the x-ray.
We saw this guy walking everywhere in Miami, playing poker, going everywhere, I didn’t see no cast.”
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Many MMA pundits, including those who dubbed themselves Colby Covington fans, were quick to accuse the California native of simply “not showing up” on fight night. Though there may be some truth to the statement, Burns believes that only serves to discredit what Leon Edwards was able to accomplish against his outspoken opposition.
“A lot of guys said he didn’t show up,” Burns added. “I think he did show up, but Leon just shut him down. People don’t give Leon a lot of credit, but I think he’s very good and he just shut the guy down.”
Gilbert Burns Believes Covington’s Days of talking Himself into title fights are over
What comes next for Covington is anyone’s guess. Following his loss to Edwards, he called for a potential meeting with former two-time title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, who had lost to Shavkat Rakhmonov shortly before his showdown with Edwards. Covington has also called for a fight with rising welterweight contender Ian Garry after the pair traded some verbal jabs in the media.
Either way, Burns is confident that Covington has seen his last UFC title opportunity, making him essentially irrelevant to every fighter who is working their way toward a shot at championship gold.
“I saw a couple of things that he might fight Ian Garry or me,” Burns said. “That guy’s not relevant. The way he shows up every two years without fighting. I’m not even thinking of this guy. I called this guy out so many times. He had so many opportunities. Now my focus is on Jack. After Jack, we’ll see, but I’m not [looking past] Jack. He’s gonna be very hungry, but I just think Colby Covington got shut down real bad and I think he’s done.
“After the fight [with Leon Edwards], he called out ‘Wonderboy’ who had just lost… He’s done. He’s never fighting for the title again so why [would I] fight him now?”