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Colby Covington will finally get the chance to prove all of his doubters wrong later tonight (Sat., Dec. 14, 2019) at UFC 245 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he steps inside of the Octagon for a main event bout against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Covington, who captured the interim UFC welterweight title with a win over Rafael dos Anjos back at UFC 225 only to have it later stripped, has been waiting a long time for his first undisputed title shot. It will finally come for the 31-year-old later this evening in Las Vegas atop the biggest MMA card of the year.
While Covington will have the opportunity to cash in on his seven-fight win streak and claim the biggest prize in combat sports, he may not be able to make much leeway with fight fans and fellow UFC fighters alike. That’s because Covington is already one of the most unfavorable fighters on the UFC roster today, mostly due to his own willingness to put his name in the public eye and say whatever he can to gain attention.
One fighter who has experienced Covington’s cringe-worthy trashtalk more than most is none other than UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who lived with “Chaos” during his college days. Jones has never really bashed Covington’s fighting abilities, but he truly believes the welterweight contender is a bad person.
“Colby’s a habitual liar at the end of the day,” Jones said during Friday’s UFC 247 press conference. “He really is. He told the fans that we lived together for two years. We lived together for one semester. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and a lot of people don’t consider me a good person, but coming from me, Colby’s a really bad person. He really is. He really, really is.”
While Jones and Covington have shared their own rocky history many other fighters feel the same way as “Bones.” That includes streaking UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal, who saw his friendship with Covington turn to dust earlier this year, and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who has been chirping back-and-forth with Colby for what seems like forever. Even UFC president Dana White had his own personal run-in with Covington in Las Vegas.
“There’s no coincidence that Tyron Woodley got to know him and hates him, Masvidal got to know him and hates him, I got to live with him and really don’t like him,” explained Jones.
Covington, who is one win away from capturing UFC gold, has been able to utilize his unpopularity among fight fans and UFC fighters to stand out among the pack over the past few years. Whether you like Covington’s persona or not, it’s exactly what today’s MMA game calls for, whether you’re a truly good person or not.
“If any of you guys got to know him, man, he’s a really rotten person,” Jones said of Covington. “I think the MMA community is going to start to see it over the years.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 245 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN 2 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.