Tag: Colby Covington

Rising Welterweight Contender Rips Colby Covington

The welterweight division is currently at a high point, as a plethora of young and hungry contenders have emerged. One of those contenders is Kamaru Usman, who has somewhat quietly put together a six-fight winning streak in the UFC. He’ll look to continue that winning streak on the main card of this weekend’s (Jan. 14, […]

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The welterweight division is currently at a high point, as a plethora of young and hungry contenders have emerged.

One of those contenders is Kamaru Usman, who has somewhat quietly put together a six-fight winning streak in the UFC. He’ll look to continue that winning streak on the main card of this weekend’s (Jan. 14, 2018) UFC Fight Night 124 against Emil Meek, but that wasn’t supposed to be his original matchup.

In fact, according to Usman, the UFC was first interested in booking him in a main event bout against outspoken red-hot contender Colby Covington:

“A lot of people don’t know, but (Covington and I) were supposed to be the main event for this card, which is why it took so long for (the UFC) to get a main event scheduled,” Usman told MMAjunkie. “But, once again, he declined the fight, so here we are. You can run, but you can’t hide forever.”

Due to his brash personality, many fighters have begun to take shots aimed at Covington, but Usman said that the two have a history and that a fight between them is ‘fate’:

“I believe this fight is fate. It has been written,” Usman said. “How much of a small world do we live in, where I’m a little boy born in Nigeria, a country of over 200 million people, in this small farm town, to get to the point where I immigrate here to America, to where I get to college and I cross paths with (Covington)?

“Me and Jon Jones crossed paths our senior year in high school. We met at senior nationals in a big wrestling tournament. After that, we became friends. He said he was going to go to school in Iowa – that’s great. We stayed in touch. In fall break, I went up to his school and spent time with him all fall break. We hung out all week. I stayed in his dorm, which happened to be the room that Colby Covington stayed in the following year when he moved there. How small of a world is that?

“To take things further, we both live in South Florida, probably 20 or 30 miles away from each other. We train at rival gyms. We have mutual friends, and I mean mutual friends that we talk to daily. So this is something that’s been set in stone. It’s been written.”

If Usman picks up another victory this weekend, he’ll certainly be in line for a big fight, and Covington could fit that bill with his high ranking added to their lengthy backstory listed above.

Would you like to see him and Covington mix it up?

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ATT Coach Says Colby Covington Has no Issues With Brazilian Peers

American Top Team coach Conan Silveira believes the narrative of Colby Covington and animosity with Brazil has been blown out of proportion. Covington didn’t make many fans after saying Brazil was full of “filthy animals.” He reiterat…

American Top Team coach Conan Silveira believes the narrative of Colby Covington and animosity with Brazil has been blown out of proportion. Covington didn’t make many fans after saying Brazil was full of “filthy animals.” He reiterated the statement after defeating Demian Maia in Sao Paulo. Fans responded by throwing garbage at the welterweight. Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Silveira […]

10 UFC Fighters Set For Stardom In 2018

The UFC has become a star-driven business over the years, and as we move into 2018 there are a number of fighters who are vying to become the next big thing in the promotion. In this article, we’ll home in on ten fighters who have shown the potential make a big impact in the coming […]

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The UFC has become a star-driven business over the years, and as we move into 2018 there are a number of fighters who are vying to become the next big thing in the promotion.

In this article, we’ll home in on ten fighters who have shown the potential make a big impact in the coming year, from breakthrough prospects poised to take the next step towards stardom to established talents who are on the verge of becoming major draws for the UFC.

Brian Ortega

Brian ’T-City’ Ortega has been tipped as a star of the future for some time now, and 2018 looks like being the year that could see him fulfill that destiny.

Ortega breezed through 2017 with his unbeaten career record still intact at 13-0-1, while also earning the biggest victory to date by submitting Cub Swanson via guillotine choke in December.

That fight proved to be another Brazilian jiu-jitsu masterclass and it marked the 26-year-old’s fifth win in a row inside the Octagon, taking him to No.3 in the featherweight rankings and on the verge of title contention heading into the new year.

Ortega also has the kind of look and laid-back personality that suggests widespread popularity could be within his grasp, and Dana White is known to be a big believer in his ability to become a big star.

”The kid is incredible and he is absolutely, positively the future,” White declared after his latest victory, while also praising him for being a “grounded, humble, down-to-earth kid,” who told the UFC president immediately after his latest victory that he wants to use his growing reputation to do charity work.

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Strange Days: The 10 Craziest UFC Moments Of 2017

Now that 2018 has begun, there’s just no other way to say it: 2017 was simply a strange year for the UFC. With record-low pay-per-view numbers at points and outright messes in more than one division as titles became more devalued, it may not have been a banner year for the UFC, but the sport’s […]

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Now that 2018 has begun, there’s just no other way to say it: 2017 was simply a strange year for the UFC.

With record-low pay-per-view numbers at points and outright messes in more than one division as titles became more devalued, it may not have been a banner year for the UFC, but the sport’s leading promotion and its fighters still managed to produce plenty of major talking points over the course of the year.

In this article, we’ll look back at 10 of the craziest moments in the UFC over the past 12 months, from the jaw-dropping action inside the Octagon through to wild antics outside of it, and the occasional curveball that no one saw coming.

Check out the 10 craziest moments from a year that was full of them.

Cris ‘Cyborg’ Punches Angela Magana At UFC Athlete Retreat

The UFC Athlete Retreat in Las Vegas in May was supposed to be an opportunity for fighters to relax, have fun and network, but instead, it turned into a battleground between two bitter rivals.

For several months beforehand, strawweight fighter Angela Magana had been waging an unprovoked cyberbullying campaign against the featherweight star, making fun of her appearance in a series of unflattering memes and messages.

Angered by the insults, ‘Cyborg’ took it upon herself to confront her foe face-to-face at the retreat, but Magana remained defiant and made it clear she had no intention of apologizing, leading to the Brazilian star punching her in the face.

In the aftermath of the incident ‘Cyborg’ received support from fans and other UFC fighters for confronting her tormentor, but Magana ignored the backlash and reported the incident to the police, claimed to have been treated in hospital for a cut lip and ‘cervical strain’ and threatened to file a lawsuit against her rival.

’Cyborg’ was later charged with misdemeanor battery by the Las Vegas Police Department.

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Retired UFC Star Clarifies His Beef With Colby Covington

It seems like every month rising contender Colby Covington is feuding with a new name. This UFC prospect is attempting to get his name out there to become popular in this entertainment era of the UFC. He first got into the public eye with a xenophobic tirade following his victory over Demian Maia in Sao […]

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It seems like every month rising contender Colby Covington is feuding with a new name.

This UFC prospect is attempting to get his name out there to become popular in this entertainment era of the UFC.

He first got into the public eye with a xenophobic tirade following his victory over Demian Maia in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since then he has feuded with various fighters.

Now, he is going after former UFC title contender Kenny Florian. If you recall, Florian, along with current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, took a few cracks at Covington’s title hopes in a segment on a recent episode of UFC Tonight.

This made Covington upset and took to Twitter to let Florian know his opinion. Thus, they exchanged words.

Florian addressed Covington’s behavior in an interview with Submission Radio.

“I think in some ways and sometimes people kind of need to look at themselves a little bit,” Florian said, when asked about why he responded to Covington (transcript courtesy of Bloody Elbow). “And if I had the opportunity to be a mirror to Colby Covington, then I’m gonna do my best to do that. And, you know, listen, everyone has a different approach and everyone will live their life in whatever way they choose and that’s fine. But, I think that when you talk about bully-type mentalities and disrespect, I just don’t like that. I don’t like it.

“It’s something that I think is kind of poisoning the sport a little bit, and Colby is kind of one those guys who hasn’t shown the most respect to people. And at the end of the day, I think we are martial artists and it’s… you know, people already have a certain perception of cage fighters and I think that he’s not helping that perception, let’s put it that way.”

Despite all of that, it doesn’t mean that Florian doesn’t understand why Covington is taking the approach he is.

“I definitely respect the marketing aspect of it, right?” Florian elborated. “I think you can be confident and you can call out guys, you could say certain things, I think there’s just a certain level of respect. I think that when you start getting into like the bully-type mentality and you start really insulting, when you’re using things like gay slurs, when you’re using racist remarks, when you’re insulting countries and groups of people, that’s too much. We have enough of that going on in the world. And I think like we should kind of show a much more respectful side. That’s myself and that’s what I think.

“But, you know, as far as marketing yourself, I get that, but there is a line. Imagine if we picked our Olympic teams based on how good our trash talk was. Like, you know? ‘Oh that’s the number one guy, but he’s quiet, so we’re gonna give it to the number three guy because he has more twitter followers. Or this guy talks more trash, he’s really selling the fact that he’s going to win this hundred-meter race, so we’re gonna put him in there. Sorry, I know you got first place and you’re the fastest man in the world, but this guy really talks a good game, so we’re gonna just jump the line, okay? Is that cool with you?’ It just, it doesn’t make it a sport anymore, does it? And that’s kind of what bothers me, and not just me, I think it bothers a lot of the professional fighters. So the game has definitely changed since when I was fighting – now I sound like an old guy, which I am – but a balance needs to be found.”

“It’s possible. I mean, probably not likely,” Florian responded to the idea that Covington could become a fan favorite. “But I think Chael had a certain charisma about him and I think he had a certain wittiness about him, whereas Colby’s just… there’s not a whole lot of, I don’t know if there’s a whole lot of slickness to what he’s saying. It kind of just sounds like an angry 15-year-old, you know what I mean? Chael at least had knowledge of how to play the heel in a relatively intelligent way.”

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Rising Contender Says Colby Covington Refused To Fight Him

Surging welterweight contender Kamaru Usman says he was offered a fight against fellow prospect Colby Covington, but Covington declined to sign the contract to do so. Instead, Usman will face Emil Meek, best known for starching Rousimar Palhares in less than a minute prior to signing with the UFC. However, Usman is still disappointed that […]

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Surging welterweight contender Kamaru Usman says he was offered a fight against fellow prospect Colby Covington, but Covington declined to sign the contract to do so.

Instead, Usman will face Emil Meek, best known for starching Rousimar Palhares in less than a minute prior to signing with the UFC. However, Usman is still disappointed that he wasn’t able to fight Covington.

The former Blackzillian revealed how it all went down on this week’s edition of The MMA Hour:

“We were offered Colby Covington, he said no. Right away he said, ‘No, I don’t want anything to do with that guy.’

“They tried to make fight again two weeks later. Then something transpired, I don’t know what it was, but they tried to make fight again, and Colby said no, absolutely not. Then for the third time they offered it, this was supposed to be my main event, Jan. 14, my main event. Obviously you see why it took so long get a headliner for that card. It was supposed to be me and Colby to headline that card. But he turned it down.”

Covington has become a high profile prospect since defeating Demian Maia and beginning his own brand of trash talk, which has caused him some trouble amongst Brazilian fans and fighters.

Usman says that Covington strategically avoided him as well as other young, top welterweights in an effort advance in the division against what Usman says is older competition:

“Colby only wants to go after the guys he feels that are old and have an athletic advantage and cardio advantage to maybe try to push them into deep waters,” Usman said. “He knows that plays no part with me. You can’t out-wrestle me, you can’t out-strike me, you don’t have more power than me. Basically he sees this, he’s so afraid to where he was running to nobody but all the older guys who are on their way down. That’s all they want.”

What are your thoughts on the always-controversial Colby Covington? Is he avoiding fighters like Usman on his way to a title shot?

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