Colby Covington finally has the UFC welterweight title fight he’s long sought, but he’s still holding a grudge over the way the promotion handled the road there.
Covington, the former interim titleholder, will meet champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 244 on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas. Recently, he told “Submission Radio” that if he defeats Usman, he’s not going to let UFC president Dana White wrap the championship belt around his waist, as is custom following title fights.
”I can tell you who’s not wrapping it around my waist, and that will not be Dana White,” Covington said. “If he tries to wrap it around my waist, I’m gonna take the belt from him and slap him in the face with it.”
When asked about the comment at Friday’s UFC on ESPN 6 post-fight press conference, White essentially said “we’ll see about that” and let Covington know that that dislike is a two-way street.
“Good luck with that,” White said. “He’s a big-mouth (expletive) idiot.”
Much has gone wrong in the relationship between White and Covington since better days, when White arranged for Covington to have a White House visit with President Donald Trump. The UFC stripped Covington of the interim belt when Covington said he wasn’t able to fight on a date the UFC wanted, and then attempts to put together Usman-Covington for UFC 243 fell through before the fight finally got made for UFC 244.
Covington isn’t afraid to give his side of the story.
“There’s a difference between me and Dana White, and that’s truth and lies,” Covington said. “Honestly, I don’t care what he says. He has a lot to say all the time, and I don’t pay attention to him anymore. I don’t follow him on any social media platform, so I could give a (expletive) less what he has to say. I’m showing up, I’m kicking ass, I’m taking names, and I’m cashing the biggest checks in the sport, and that’s that. There’s not a man alive that can stop me right now.”
Dana White responds to Colby Covington's threat to slap him in face with UFC belt