Colby Covington is after the UFC welterweight championship and stardom. He doesn’t care who he has to roll over to get there either.
After he defeated Robbie Lawler in the UFC on ESPN 5 main event on Saturday in New Jersey, Covington took to the microphone with his usual brashness. He heaped praise upon the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose two sons were in attendance at the fights. He heaped praise on the U.S. troops.
“I was truly inspired when the first family came in the building and came and seen me backstage. Let’s give it up for the Trumps, they’re keeping America great! I also want to thank the troops. Without the troops none of this would be possible. They sacrifice their lives for our freedom. I wouldn’t be able to do this today without them,” said Covington.
He then took a dig not only at Lawler, but Lawler’s longtime friend and former teammate, UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.
“Hey, let’s talk about the lesson we learned here tonight. It’s a strong lesson that Robbie should have learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes. You stay off the track when the train is coming through, junior. Don’t matter if it’s the Trump train or the Colby train. Get out the way!”
That of course elicited a lot of blowback on social media, but the man that caught the sideways blow from Covington took it in stride.
“Not sure if (Covington) should have used my accident as fuel for his post-fight trash talk, but that was one heck of a fight,” Hughes wrote on his Instagram account.
“Nice win for (American Top Team) and (Lawler) always puts on a good fight. Reminder though, this is the fighting world. People trash talk and you gotta have thick skin.”
A short time after he exited the Octagon, Covington appeared on the UFC on ESPN 5 post-show on ESPN+, where he was greeted by his next opponent, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who was working the desk alongside Karen Bryant and Rashad Evans.
The interview got as heated as would be expected, but a throng of UFC security kept them separated.
WATCH > Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman separated by security during volatile UFC on ESPN 5 interview
