Colby Covington Reacts To Controversial Exchange With Michael Bisping
In a little over a week since June 9’s UFC 225 from Chicago, one of the most hotly-debated topics to arise was newly-crowned interim champion Colby Covington’s on-air back-and-forth with former middleweight champ Michael Bisping.
The hotly-discussed scene where Bisping was put off by Covington’s over-the-top style was one of the most dramatic moments of a card that stacked on paper but supposedly brought little heat at the box office. Indeed Bisping drew a fair amount of criticism from several in the MMA universe, namely his FOX Sports 1 co-worker Jon Anik.
And it was also hardly a surprise to hear someone snap at Covington after he’s called out the majority of anyone involved in mixed martial arts during his run to the placeholder title over the last nine months. With Covington ironically taking over as MMA’s most brazen trash talker after Bisping occupied a top spot on that list for many years before retiring, he won’t stop building his brand heading into his upcoming title unification fight with Tyron Woodley.
On a recent episode of The MMA Hour, “Chaos” effused the predictable insult he used against ‘The Count’ during their original rivalry, making fun of his eye and mentioning Dan Henderson’s historic knockout of the brash British legend:
“He’s an unprofessional little one-eyed twerp,” Covington said. “Every time the UFC brings me out, I’m always professional, I’m always on time. I make weight. There’s never any issues with Colby “Chaos” Covington. I always do the right things. What he did on Saturday night was a complete joke. That was my time and my moment and he was trying to steal my spotlight. He knew the light was so bright — and usually he can’t see out of that one eye. But my spotlight was so bright, he just couldn’t help but try and jump in.
“It’s crazy, he forgot what happened from American forefather Dan Henderson. You would think he got humbled from the last time he messed around with the red, white and blue. I’ll come across the pond and break that little, one-eyed nerd’s face.”
More of the same from Covington, whose promotion may not be working as much as you may think with his social media following not yet possessing equal statistics to the sheer number of headlines he’s emblazoned as of late.
He won’t stop doing what got him here, however. Covington claimed he wasn’t like any other fighter, and wouldn’t complain like his budding archnemesis Woodley, who claims he’s subject to racism but is actually disliked because his fights are boring:
“I’m not like any other fighter,” Covington said. “I don’t ever complain, man. I just take things the way they are. I’m not like TyQuil Woodley where he complains about the fans, like ‘Oh, they’re racist, because they don’t like me. Oh, they’re racist, they don’t want to watch me fight.’ No, you’re just boring, no one wants to watch the human form of NyQuil.”
Back to “The Count,” Covington closed this verbal battle with the British vet by suggesting he wouldn’t be moving along with the promotion when they shift to ESPN:
“You want to take shots at me from the Fox Sports desk, there’s a reason that they’re moving over to ESPN,” Covington said. … “He ain’t going over there.”
Thre’s not yet a date for Covington’s anticipated grudge match with “The Chosen One” yet, but it’s already become personal and should only get more controversial as “Chaos” trashes the champ every time he opens his mouth.
But Woodley isn’t the only target, and Covington’s list of victims is covering more and more territory with each passing day. Is it growing old for you, or do you still care enough to pay to hopefully see him lose?
