Even UFC CEO Dana White is not impressed by Colby Covington’s recent insult for Leon Edwards. The executive admitted that the practice is common in the industry but underscored disapproval when it comes to trash talks involving family members. Ultimately, White shared that he nor the commission promote such a move.
Welterweight champ Edwards and Covington entered the cage last Saturday for their UFC 296 bout. Prior to this, the conflict between the two grew stronger after “Chaos” brought up Edwards’ father, who was murdered when he was just 13, in his comment. This almost caused a melee between the two at the UFC 296 pre-fight press conference. Later, many fans and fellow fighters criticized Covington. After the official fight between the two, where Edwards managed to successfully defend his belt, White echoed the sentiments of the MMA community about the matter.
“It bothered everybody,” White said during the UFC 296 post-fight press conference. “What I say, it’s true: We’re in the fight game, and lots of mean things are said. (But) one of the things that I really don’t like is family (trash talk).
“When you start going after family, whether it’s the kids, the wife, the parents, whatever, it’s just such a nasty thing to do. But again, this is one of those sports where you say horrible things, and then 24 hours later, it goes down.”
The executive also addressed some possible beliefs that the company is encouraging such a practice. Specifically, White denied pushing fighters to trash talk, adding the promotion is even taking steps to prevent them.
“I don’t ever tell anyone what to say,” White said. “You know what we will say: ‘Guys, when you go out on that stage, do not touch each other.’ Everybody thinks that I love when these type of things break. No, I don’t love it. More importantly, the commission doesn’t love it, and the commission is the government.
“So no, we don’t like this stuff, and we do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Fortunately, Edwards successfully got his revenge after defeating the trash-talking challenger in the bout. Although Covington said that it was “the easiest fight” he had and claimed that he “didn’t take any damage,” the bruises he received and the judges’ unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) are enough to justify Edwards’ utter victory.
