Colby Covington’s purpose these days seems to be causing as much controversy as he possibly can. Or for better terms, complete “chaos.” Covington comments on the Black Lives Matter movement are getting him in hotter water than he could ever imagine. After his disgusting comments, UFC sponsors stepped in to make it clear that their visions and beliefs don’t align with his. Now, various fighters of color in the UFC have spoken out about Covington and his disgusting comments towards black people.
Colby Covington Black Lives Matter Comments
Covington was vocal about his difference in opinion from Tyron Woodley. Tyron asserted his aid for Black Lives Matter, while Colby did the opposite. He declared that the Black Lives Matter movement, “is standing up for lifelong criminals” and it’s “a complete sham” and “a joke.”
African-American Fighters React
Many fighters on the UFC saw the comments and were rightfully disgusted by his words. Here are what some of the people of color on the UFC roster had to say about Covington and his beliefs.
Leon Edwards
“That’s what got me – the UFC has said nothing about it,” Edwards said. “ESPN has said nothing about it. Letting it flow like it’s a normal thing to f**king say and do and it’s not. Your tribe and smoke signals and blah, blah, blah, and he’s calling Woodley a terrorist because of Black Lives Matter. All these statements he’s making is racist. There’s no other way to go around it.”
Israel Adesanya
“It just shows you the landscape of the media, what it is right now,” said Israel. “I made a joke about dropping Romero like the Twin Towers and everyone lost their mind, even if I said it was a joke and it was pretty funny, but people took it as I was being offensive and digging – but I was making a joke.
“This guy has directly insulted my culture, my brother and many other cultures and stuff and no one says anything. But it just shows you a mirror. Shows you a mirror to you guys. So yeah, I don’t really care. Kamaru Usman broke his jaw.”
Hakeem Dawodu
“I found them extremely rude, racist,” said Hakeem. “I’m kind of surprised he’s allowed to talk free like that. You know everyone’s allowed to talk freely, but I took offense to it. It’s crazy that it’s comments like that causing more and more of a divide amongst the people. So that’s how he gets down, but I’m not really with that, and I took offense to that for sure.
“That’s racist. They were almost worried about my walkout song, and he’s going to be saying stuff like that and that’s crazy, especially on such a big stage. I feel like that’s only going to promote more and more divide and cause more and more issues. He’s got the president calling him, backing him up on that. I don’t really appreciate it, and that’s how it is I guess.”
Sijara Eubanks
“If I came out and called somebody a redneck or honky or something like that, I don’t think I would get that kind of pat on the wrist like Colby got,” Eubanks said. “People are rushing to his defense, ‘Oh, he’s just promoting himself.’ He doesn’t need to promote himself at this point to that extent. If you can say it out and pretend it’s a schtick or show, I just don’t think playing with something that’s sensitive as race, especially in the timeframe that we’re in, is something that you should use to promote yourself, and I don’t think it’s promotion.
The Fight Game
What do fans think about Colby’s comments? Do the fighters of color on the roster make a valid point? It seems like the UFC is okay with Colby’s comments, as they haven’t done anything to combat his words. As time goes by, expect more outrage from “Chaos,” as he says anything he possibly can to attain UFC gold.
UFC President Dana White calls the racist comments “the fight business.” However, we’re sure if it were the other way around, the “promoting ” tactic might be labeled another way.
