Dana White Was far from impressed with Colby Covington’s UFC 296 Performance: ‘He looked slow and old tonight’
Dana White was not enthused by Colby Covington’s lackluster performance against Leon Edwards.
After coming up short in two championship opportunities against former titleholder Kamaru Usman, Covington was gifted a third shot at gold at UFC 296. Once again, he was unable to capitalize, dropping a decisive unanimous decision against reigning champ Leon Edwards.
Following the promotion’s final event of 2023, Dana White shared his take on Covington’s performance at the post-fight press event. Initially, the UFC CEO seemed to suggest that the pressure had gotten to Covington, but he then quickly turned his criticisms toward the perennial contender’s performance which was lacking, to say the least.
“I think pressure gets to everybody,” White said. “I’m sure Leon had a ton of pressure. I mean, he was just talking about what [Covington] said about his father and the last thing you want to do is go out and lose to that guy. All these guys deal with pressure, but Colby’s been in big fights before. This isn’t Colby’s first rodeo. He’s been in big fights and Colby just looked slow and old tonight. My opinion. I think everybody felt the same way. He got outwrestled.”
After 25 minutes, Leon Edwards retained the 170-pound crown via 49-46 on all three judge’s scorecards.
“He looked really slow,” White added. “He had a hard time handling the speed. Could never really get off because of the speed, and even got outwrestled.”
Colby Covington’s Dirty Pre-Fight Antics Proved to be Financially Beneficial
However, Colby Covington’s contribution to the evening wasn’t a complete disappointment. Asked for his thoughts on the controversial comment made by Covington in regards to Leon Edwards’ father, Dana White revealed that the PPV buyrate jumped up 25% globally during the roughly 20-minute press event where Covington delivered the vile gibe.
“After that press conference, or during… In the middle or whatever, the pay-per-view shot up 25%,” White revealed. “Our analytical team wasn’t basing it off YouTube views. They were basing it off actual pre-buys while the press conference was going on and ended. 25%. Globally too. Not just on ESPN which is absolutely fascinating.”
With star power like that, it’s unlikely that we have seen the last of Colby Covington. Just don’t expect him to be sniffing around any world title opportunities for the foreseeable future.
