Colby Covington claims the UFC was ready to let him walk before switching things up.
Covington is scheduled to challenge Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title this Saturday night (Dec. 14). It’ll be “Chaos'” first crack at the undisputed gold. He is a former interim champion. While Covington has grabbed the attention of many with his over-the-top MAGA shtick, he says the change in personality was needed to keep his job.
Covington Saved UFC Job With ‘Filthy Animals’ Promo
Covington appeared on The Candace Owens Show and made quite the claim. He said that before fighting Demian Maia, the UFC was prepared to forego re-signing him. That all changed after he got on the mic following his victory (via MMAFighting.com).
“I’ve never told this story before but three fights ago, before I fought the No. 2 guy in the world, this guy named Demian Maia, in Brazil, they had told my manager Dan Lambert that they weren’t going to re-sign me,” Covington told Candace Owens recently. “They didn’t like my style, they didn’t like that I wasn’t entertaining, and this is before I really started to become an entertainer and really understand the entertainment aspect of this business. So before this fight they told me no matter what happens, I was ranked No. 6 in the world, ‘We’re not re-signing you. We don’t like your character. We don’t like your fighting style.’ And I’m getting paid $30,000 to go fight the No. 2 guy in the world. After you pay taxes and pay your coaches, you’re really going to get like, $5000 or $10,000.
“So I go out there and I beat him up and leave him in a pool of blood in Sao Paulo, Brazil, his home city, and I shoot this promo on the Brazilians and I say, ‘You guys are all a bunch of filthy animals and Brazil you’re a dump.’… So I go and shoot this promo, and I wasn’t supposed to have my job, but that promo goes so viral on the internet, that the UFC’s like, ‘We have to keep him. We have to re-sign him because that promo is so big.’ So that’s what saved my career and that was the turning point of my career and the rest has been history.”
Some fans despise Covington’s gimmick, while others praise him for doing what he has to do in what has been referred to as the “entertainment era.” No matter what side you fall on, one can’t deny the success of “Chaos.” He’s riding a seven-fight winning streak and if he extends it to eight, that means he’ll be the new UFC welterweight champion.
