Covington (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) faced welterweight title challenger Demian Maia (25-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) in the co-headliner event of UFC Fight Night 119 on October 28, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Covington picked unanimous victory over Maia, shortly after the win, he unleashes in post-fight speech reiterated his unfavorable view by calling Brazil “dump” and its people “Filthy Animals.”
It didn’t sit well with the residence of Brazil; speech ended with some intense boos and flying objects at Covington.
UFC senior vice president David Shaw, speaking to media afterward, shared his displeasure over, Covington’s reckless comments:
“Overall, I thought the fan reactions throughout the course of the night were fantastic generally,” Shaw said at the evening’s post-show presser. “Brazilian fans are obviously very intelligent, very knowledgeable about the sport, very scrutinizing, and generally it was loud and energetic and boisterous the whole time.
“In terms of the fan reactions with Covington fighting, there’s no way for us to support any fans throwing items at any staff or any fighters. However, having said that, we are taking the situation with Covington very seriously. It’s already being reviewed by our code of conduct committee and it’s something that we are not very happy about.”
This isn’t the first time that fighters have used colorful language to hype up a matchup with a Brazilian athlete. Two-time UFC middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen targeted opponent Anderson Silva’s home country, infamously joking that while he enjoyed American technology and luxuries, “Anderson and the Brazilian kids are sitting outside playing in the mud.”
Unsurprisingly, Covington generated a controversy after his lethal comments, which includes some negative reactions coming from his teammates at American Top Team.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba0akDXhoEi/
Just a D BAG
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) October 29, 2017
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