Colby Covington has never shied away from speaking his mind but went one step further in Brazil following his win over Demian Maia
Covington was rushed out of the stadium under a hail of flying objects following an eyebrow-raising address of the crowd at UFC Fight Night 119.
“Chaos” hit out spectacularly at the raucous Brazilian crowd, much to the surprise of many in attendance:
“I should have knocked him [Demian Maia] out. Brazil you’re a dump! All you filthy animals suck! I’ve got one thing to say… Tyron Woodley, I’m coming for you! If you don’t answer the front door, I am going to knock it in and take what’s mine, that welterweight belt!”
Needless to say, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was quick to respond to Covington’s call out. Claiming that he was “embarrassed” on behalf of Covington for his performance, Woodley also took aim at the 29-year-old’s failure to finish Maia in Brazil on Saturday night:
“What might he plan to finish me with? Allergies from the feathers coming out of the pillows he swinging? I’m ashamed of our sport tonight.
“U mean in 2012 when he had 2 be flown home early 4 a minor injury, when @DinThomas had to tell me to ease up on him, or when he turned blue?”
Covington’s antics did not go over well with many observers, who were keen to point out that his attempt at trash talking lacked any discernible attempt at wit or humor. Having essentially made himself public enemy number 1 among the Brazilian faithful, Covington will have no doubt have caught the attention of the only top 10 Brazilian welterweight aside from Maia, Rafael dos Anjos.
dos Anjos will have his hands full with Robbie Lawler in December and should he manage to overcome the former 170-pound champion, will land a shot at Tyron Woodley’s strap. If he loses, however, Covington may potentially find himself sharing an octagon with the former lightweight king.
Aside from this, there seems no real reason behind Covington’s outburst other than being caught up in the moment. If “Chaos” is simply attempting to establish himself as the new UFC pantomime villain on the block for the purposes of gaining exposure, he will need to improve on his poor KO/TKO record which is a paltry 1 from 14.
Following the fight, Covington opened up on the experience:
“That was unlike anything I’ve ever been through in my life,” Covington told MMAjunkie following the event. “Beer bottles flying across my head. I got hit a couple times by a couple bottles, but the security did a good job. There was like 20 guys huddled over me making sure my head was low. (UFC exec) Reed Harris said he had to pull some guy out of the stands that hit me with a bottle. Man, it was chaos. And that’s what comes with my nickname. I enjoyed it. I had a great time out there. It was a lot of fun.”
Covington also suggested that he would not apologize for the remarks, despite calls for him to do so:
“I don’t walk back anything I said because I don’t think I said anything that offensive,” Covington said. “Look at the stuff they’re saying to me all week, the stuff in the walkout. They’re saying, ‘Oh, you’re a (expletive). You’re going to die. You’re a (expletive). You’re this.’ Homophobic slurs. All these different super-nasty remarks. Where’s the double standard at? They can say these things, but I say, ‘Oh, the place is a dump’ and ‘they’re filthy animals’ just as a game? This is a game to me. I’m just having fun with it. I’m just trying to promote and make it fun for the fans. How am I taking criticism from that? Look at what they’re saying to me. Stop having a double standard.”
On Sunday, “Chaos” did issue what he referred to as a “formal apology” on Twitter:
I went to work last week. I was screamed at, spit at, assaulted with water bottles and other objects by an angry mod and serenaded by 10,000 voices yelling ‘you are going to die.’ My employer had to place security at my hotel room to protect me.”
“I would like to formally apologize to any filthy animal I offended by comparing them to my hosts in Sao Paulo.”
