Dan Ige expected a lot more from Colby Covington at UFC 296.
After nearly two years on the shelf, Covington made his long-awaited return to the Octagon to headline the promotion’s final pay-per-view of the year opposite reigning and defending welterweight world champion Leon Edwards. Going into the contest, many fight fans favored ‘Chaos’ to come out on top courtesy of his impeccable wrestling skills and never-ending gas tank.
Unfortunately, neither one showed up on fight night.
Through five rounds, Covington found little success leading to a 49-46 score across the board in favor of Edwards.
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Dan Ige revealed that, while he was half paying attention to the fight while playing some video games, ’50k’ was far from impressed with Covington’s performance.
“I was kind of watching it halfway because I was playing Call of Duty at the same time so I had my phone propped up,” Ige said. “Colby looked a little behind. I picked Colby a long time ago just given his gas tank and his wrestling, I thought he’d be able to make that fight a different fight, but Leon’s the champ for a reason. He’s super good and dominant and he displayed his dominance that night.”
LEON EDWARDS BEAT COLBY COVINGTON BY UNANIMOUS DECISION 😤
(via @ufc)
pic.twitter.com/NQqgWUQCVV— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 17, 2023
Dan Ige Doesn’t Believe in Ring Rust
When he wasn’t praising Donald Trump in his post-fight interview, Colby Covington suggested that his long time away from the Octagon could a played a role in his lackluster performance. While Ige doesn’t personally believe in the concept of ring rust, or cage rust in this case, he believes that it could have played a part mentally.
“I think some people do [surrender] to the ring rust or whatever you call it,” Ige added. “I do think if you start thinking about that, mentally it could be a factor. I’ve never truly believed in it. I’ve had layoffs, came back, and had a great performance. I’ve also had layoffs where I came back and didn’t have my best performance. It all comes down to one night essentially and it’s really hard to judge what was going through each fighter’s minds.
“I think Dana [White] said it well. There was a lot of pressure on him, but there was a lot of pressure on Leon. [Colby] crossed some lines, talked about his family so I’m sure Leon didn’t want to lose and there’s pressure. It’s the ability to deal with that pressure and perform at that level. That’s the cream of the crop.”
It was Covington’s third failed opportunity at UFC gold. Following Dana White’s assessment of Covington’s performance, it’s probably safe to assume that ‘Chaos’ won’t be sniffing around any title opportunities for the foreseeable future.
Watch the full exclusive interview below:
