After Chael Sonnen, the UFC probably found its best heel character in Colby Covington. While it’s true that the UFC welterweight’s verbose and brash nature gets into his opponents’ skin, ‘Chaos’s UFC persona has also kept him firmly in the headlines. Now, Covington has finally explained his decision to turn heel in the UFC, but rather than uniting fans, his revelation has ended up dividing them even more.

“I would just say that I’m a bad guy and I said some mean things, and they just don’t understand that,” Covington said in a stream with N3ON. “I had to do these things to sell my work, and I had to do this to get people entertained so they want to watch me fight… it’s a job. It’s a press conference, I’m just trying to do good work so the company, the UFC, notices me and gives me a better contract. It’s a renegotiation.”

For context, the former UFC interim welterweight champion wasn’t always a heel. In the initial stages of his career, Colby Covington just focused on winning fights and not much on selling them. But despite Covington piling up wins, the UFC apparently didn’t find his style appealing to the audience and even thought about cutting him from the roster.

As a result, ‘Chaos’ turned full heel and pulled off the most controversially iconic moment of his life after defeating Demian Maia in Brazil in 2017. Although Covington called the entire Brazilian crowd “f—thy animals” on live television, which brought a ton of backlash against him, he explains that one moment ended up saving his livelihood.

“I wasn’t supposed to have my job, but that promo goes so viral on the internet that the UFC’s like, ‘We have to keep him. We have to re-sign him because that promo is so big,'” Covington said in an interview with Candace Owens. “So that’s what saved my career, and that was the turning point of my career, and the rest has been history.”

Now, even though the popular American UFC star came clean on his heel persona, fans seemed to have very mixed feelings about his revelations. So, they didn’t wait long to share their reactions.

Fans react to Colby Covington revealing the motives behind embracing a heel persona

Following Covington’s disclosure, a fan wrote, “Yeah, I get it, but there are some things, like family, that you don’t mention. There’s a difference between selling a fight and being disrespectful.” After that comment, another user called ‘Chaos’ out by writing, “Buddy, we all understand. It’s so obvious how desperate you’re trying to be disliked and how fake it is.”

Even before Covington, the UFC has seen other heel characters like Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping, and Conor McGregor. On many occasions, they have also said things that fans didn’t agree with, drawing a ton of criticism. But as the fan pointed out, ‘Chaos’ may have gone a little too far by dragging Leon Edwards’s deceased father into the conversation at a UFC 294 press conference.

Then, a fan pointed out that Covington doesn’t back up his trash talk, writing, “You gotta back it up by training and fighting better 🤷🏼‍♂️,” and soon another user added, “Oh, I totally get that and fully agree. Now, get a match with @NoBickal set up, will you?”

As fans pointed out, part of why some dislike Covington is how his opponents have beaten him after heated press conferences. For instance, ‘Chaos’ was highly animated in his fights with Kamaru Usman, but he ended up losing both of them. However, while some fans shared backlash, others also complimented his heel persona.

When it comes to a clash with Bo Nickal, the former interim 170 lbs champ has already called him out for a welterweight showdown after their White House clash fizzled out.

One fan wrote, “I’m not a Colby fan, but I think he should go to WWE and become a heel. I feel like he would be great at it. He already has a wrestling background, he has good mic skills, and he has a persona. He should definitely try it one day.”

Last year, the UFC star expressed on a Twitch channel that he’s interested in transitioning to WWE. And with both promotions under the same TKO umbrella, many believe that move would be seamless. But for now, at least, Covington hasn’t made that leap yet.

Finally, another fan shared a personal experience, writing, “I once met Colby in a casino in Vegas. I was walking past and asked him for a photo. Could not have asked for a better interaction. He took photos with us and even made conversation. Incredibly friendly and a really nice guy.”

Now, as fans have given mixed reactions to Colby Covington’s reason behind his heel turn, what do you think about him embracing the brash persona? Let us know in the comments section below.