Leon
Edwards THREW A WATER BOTTLE AT COLBY 😳
#UFC296 pic.twitter.com/cXyH92Xspo— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
December 15, 2023
Colby
Covington has proven once again that he is willing to cross all
lines in order to get under the skin of his opponents.
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Fans certainly expected Covington (17-3) to come out with his
over-the-top trash talk during the press conference. The former
interim champion was more than happy to take aim at other fighters
on the podium including Stephen
Thompson and Tony
Ferguson.
However, during one of his verbal back-and-forths with Leon
Edwards (21-3), “Chaos” opted to go with a distasteful joke
about Edwards’ late father, who was murdered when “Rocky” was just
13 years old.
“On Saturday night, I’m going to bring you to a place you never
want to be,” Covington shouted. “I’m going to bring you to the
seventh level of hell. We’ll say what’s up to your dad while we’re
there.”
While “Rocky” seemed unfazed and unbothered by Covington’s verbal
assault up until this point, the reigning champion swiftly hurled a
bottle at Covington before getting up to rush toward him.
Although Covington stood up to meet Edwards in the middle,
fortunately, the two were kept apart by the security present on
stage.
Once the situation was under control both fighters took their seats
to resume the press conference. Asked if the insult made the match
more personal than before, Edwards replied:
“Not really [personal],” Edwards said. “The guy’s a piece of sh*t;
but just make sure you keep that same energy backstage. Keep that
energy backstage.”
To which Covington replied: “Make sure you save that f*cking energy
in the ring Saturday night.”
Edwards vs. Covington will serve as the headliner for the UFC 296
pay-per-view event this Saturday, which is set to go down at the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The co-main event will feature another title fight as flyweight
champion Alexandre
Pantoja takes on Brandon
Royval in an attempt to defend his title for the first time.