After the thunderous cheer that echoed through London’s O2 Arena on Saturday after Colby Covington entered the building, one would think that the American welterweight would have some nice things to say about the UFC 286 host city.
Well, he did not.
Covington, who was in London to serve as the emergency alternate for the title bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman (and to heckle whoever won the fight), laid waste to London by trashing the city’s food, women, and weather.
“This hasn’t been a welcome place,” Covington asserted. “The food sucks, the weather sucks, the girls definitely suck.”
Covington, who refers to himself as “Donald Trump’s favorite fighter,” also made a historical analogy to explain what he would like to do to UFC Welterweight Champion and Brit Leon Edwards.
“We buried the English in 1776, and I’d love to bury him [Edwards] in his home country,” Covington said.
Colby Covington is seen in attendance during the UFC 286 event at The O2 Arena on March 18, 2023, in London, England. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
After Edwards’ victory, UFC President Dana White declared Covington the #1 contender for the welterweight title. As for Edwards, the Birmingham native seemed less enthused about a matchup against Covington.
“I’m the king now; I get to decide who is next,” Edwards said.
Well, that is just not how this works at all. Dana White and his matchmakers decide which fights get made, and after UFC 286, White made it clear that Covington is Edwards’ next opponent.
“I don’t know when we’ll do it, but yeah, that’s the fight that makes sense,” White told reporters of an Edwards-Covington matchup. “And Colby came here, cut weight, and did everything to be here for this fight. He deserves the fight.
“Not to mention the fact that he’s the second or third-best guy in the world.”
Sorry, Leon. Prepare for muskets, wigs, and all the Revolutionary War analogies you can imagine.