Colby Covington says UFC was going to cut him if not for ‘filfthy animals’ promo
by Lewis MckeeverAlthough Colby Covington was going up against the No. 2 ranked welterweight in the world at the time of UFC Fight Night 119, the UFC had every intention of cutting ‘Chaos’ after the fight.
That’s according to a recent interview with conservative political commentator Candace Owens, where Covington revealed that his WWE-style post-fight promo literally saved his career. After dominating Demian Maia enroute to a unanimous decision at Sao Paulo’s Ginásio do Ibirapuera, Covington called the local crowd ‘filfthy animals’ and referred to Brazil as a ‘dump’.
“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 said, per MMA Fighting. “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.”
Now fully embracing his role as the ‘bad guy’, 31-year-old Covington has no intentions of slowing down after he promises to beat Kamaru Usman to win the welterweight title at UFC 245.
“When I’m on camera, I’m amping everything up to 110 because this is the show business, entertainment...” Covington said. “I’m entertaining. I’m putting on a show for the fans because that’s what they want to see. That’s what they pay their hard-earned money for, so I’ve got to give it to them.”
UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington takes place this Saturday, Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.