By any measure possible, Colby Covington had an abysmal week at UFC 296.
From the abhorrent comments he made about Leon Edwards’ late father at the pre-fight press conference to his lackluster performance while coming up short in his third attempt at becoming undisputed welterweight champion, the always outspoken Donald Trump acolyte limped out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to a chorus of boos with a lopsided loss on his resume. UFC CEO Dana White went as far as saying Covington looked “slow and old” during his performance, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the 35-year-old contender curried much favor with his boss for another run at the belt.
As much as Covington has taken it on the chin since losing for the third time in his past five fights, fellow UFC welterweight Matt Brown still prefers to praise Edwards rather than just laying all the blame at his opponent for a largely uninspired fight this past Saturday night.
“I think we’re taking a little bit of credit away from Leon when we say [Colby looked bad],” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Because I also think Leon looked very good, looked very sharp, was patient, stayed fundamental, stayed with his purpose, fought his game plan perfectly and didn’t allow Colby to get started either. As bad as Colby looked, I’m not as convinced it was Colby as much as it was Leon.
“I don’t think Colby had an off night. I don’t think it was the ring rust. I think Leon put it on him. He kept his distance well. When Colby did attempt a couple of shots, I think Colby felt the defense from Leon and he wasn’t able to get anything started. I credit Leon for that.”
That said, Brown’s biggest criticism aimed at Covington comes down to him talking a big game leading into the fight and then really failing to show up when it mattered most, especially after he got a title shot that no one really believed he deserved while sitting out for the better part of the past two years.
While Covington became a marketable commodity thanks to his bombastic approach to self-promotion along with vicious insults aimed at his opponents, Brown knows that kind of demeanor can also result in the stiffest backlash when things don’t go your way.
“Like Dana [White] said, this sport doesn’t wait for no one,” Brown said. “Taking two years off and the sport evolving didn’t help him one bit. He should have been fighting that whole time. On top of that, we know who should have had this fight anyway.
“Colby’s career has been built with his mouth and good for him. We all know who he is now but it’s mainly been built with his mouth. He’s won some good fights but his performances, other than the Robbie Lawler fight in my opinion, have never been that impressive. He is where he is because of his mouth and one hand, I’m like good for you, you made some money. On the other hand, when you start saying s*** like he did last week, it’s like is it worth the money to have your reputation ruined? Like who’s going to want to do business with you? Who’s going to have respect for you as a person? Maybe f******* Donald Trump will but if he has any respect for himself, he wouldn’t either. Could you imagine a president being cool with a guy that said the kind of s*** that Colby said? It’s ludicrous.”
Of course, Brown referred to the comments that Covington made at the UFC 296 pre-fight press conference where he insulted Edwards’ late father, who was murdered when the future UFC champion was only 13 years old. Even White, who constantly touts the free speech he encourages for all his fighters, said just about everybody was uncomfortable with what Covington said when trying to get under Edwards’ skin.
While Brown understands what Covington is trying to do by marketing himself as a brash, unapologetic trash talker, he can’t help but wonder if it’s all really worth it in the end? To make matters worse, Covington then doubled down on his troubling comments after the fight while refusing to acknowledge Edwards’ win much less show humility in defeat.
“You reap what you sow, right?” Brown said. “He put himself in that position. I respect it. You want to go with a WWE style and try to make money like Conor [McGregor] did and Colby certainly made some money, Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz, it’s a path to go down. You’re setting yourself up for failure though. You’re setting yourself up for exactly that.
“When you lose, invite the guy to a barbecue. Be cool about it. We’re in there to settle things. That’s what this sport is. You’re settling [things] with your fists. It wasn’t settled. I think I speak for everyone, we don’t really care if we see him again or not. I don’t think there’s a lot of people excited to see him fight again. [His comments were] just disgusting. Why the f*** would you say some s*** like that? You’re not getting in his head. That’s not going to change the fight. If somehow because you talked about his murdered dad, if that won you the fight, is that something to be proud of? It’s not going to win a single fight for you but would you be proud of that?”
By all accounts, Covington will definitely stick around past the loss to Edwards because he already called out Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who lost by submission to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296.
Regardless, Brown has lost all interest in Covington after his performance both in and out of the cage, before and after his latest loss.
“Hopefully we don’t have to hear from him again,” Brown said. “Hopefully he sees [Jorge] Masvidal in the street again in a dark alley and they can actually street fight it out. I’ve got a feeling Masvidal will put a pretty good whooping on him in the street. Hopefully that ends him.”