If you thought Tyron Woodley and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) had a rocky relationship, the road for Colby Covington and the worldwide leader in mixed marital arts (MMA) may be even bumpier.
More than a few eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Woodley would defend his Welterweight title against Kamaru Usman at the upcoming UFC 235 pay-per-view (PPV) event on March 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a title fight that was expected to go to “Chaos.”
Covington, as disappointed as anyone, wasn’t surprised after getting “screwed over,” claiming UFC made it a habit to lie to him on several occasions.
“In the end, I didn’t get the title shot because of politics behind it,” Covington stated during a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “You wanted to pull the curtain back today, so we are pulling back the curtain. Dana White has lied to me, UFC has lied to me.”
“They made promises to me that I was going to fight Tyron Woodley in November in Madison Square Garden,” he continued. “They made promises to me that I was going to fight him in January in California. Then all of a sudden I’m getting passed up for a guy behind me that’s being my sloppy seconds. It’s not even a guy fans want to see. If anything, Dana and UFC are shitting on the fans.”
According to Covington, UFC also failed to pay him for flying all the way to Australia to promote an event — though he says his altercation with Fabricio Werdum may be the reason behind the lack of payment.
Still, “Chaos” says it’s just another case of UFC not returning favors after one of its fighters does them a solid.
“I’ve done everything they asked me to do. I went over to Australia and sold their show, and they never even paid me to go over there after they promised me they were going to pay me,” he said. “They have lied to me before and I am sure this won’t be the last time they lie to me. I don’t know why they are lying to me. They sent me on a flight to Australia, 24-hour flight and just sent me home the next day with no pay. All of a sudden they want to blackball me like I’m the bad guy.”
Covington insists he’s been ready to fight every time the promotion asked, except for last September, which is when he underwent nasal surgery at the request of UFC doctors. Furthermore, “Chaos” reveals he is healthy and ready to go for March 2. That said, the latest drama surrounding the welterweight title has not turned him off the sport.
“Not at all, it’s only made me more passionate,” he said. “These trying times, downs in the roads, just make the ups much sweeter. I’m not sitting always partying with chicks, I’m in the gym at ATT getting better and improving. This is driving me and my love for the sport to go to new heights. They are going to wish they gave me the title shot. I’m going to be the biggest draw in fighting, not just in UFC, but If I’m somewhere else. I don’t need to be in the UFC. I don’t need UFC, UFC needs me.”
“Unless they call me with a title shot, I got nothing to say,” he said. “I don’t need them. If they want to release me, release me, it’s not a big deal to me.”
“They were trying to cut me after the Demian Maia fight, that’s how stupid UFC is. They wanted to cut me after that fight. They told me, ‘No matter what happens in the fight, we’re cutting you.’ What happened? We are here today, I got an interim title and beat ‘RDA.’ They said I wasn’t a draw, not entertaining and they had no use for me, that was their quote, unquote,” he added.
Covington says the current business hiccup could be fixable if the money and matchups are right, though he says he isn’t in UFC to be anyone’s friend, Dana White’s included. But he did have some harsh parting words for his current employer.
“Fuck you, UFC.”