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Dana White Will Never Feature Colby Covington Again After UFC 296 Debacle Is What This Ex-MMA Fighter Claims

Published 12/26/2023, 4:14 AM EST

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UFC 296 ended with a bang! Leon Edwards defended his welterweight title against Colby Covington. Edwards dominated the fight and stayed in control for most of the match. The buildup to the fight, however, took an unfortunate turn when Covington, known for trash-talking, went too far and mocked Edwards’s murdered father during the press conference. The usually entertaining banter became controversial as ‘Chaos’ crossed a sensitive line. 

During a recent appearance on the ‘Weighing In’ podcast, UFC veteran Josh ‘The Punk’ Thomson shared his opinion regarding this unsettling turn of events. Alongside Big John McCarthy, Thomson engaged in a comprehensive discussion about UFC 296, where the pair initially discussed how Covington blamed his broken foot and the judges for his dismal performance against Edwards. However, the crux of their conversation revolved around what happened during the press conference. 

Thomson said, But I honestly don’t think he’s going to be a main event pay-per-view fighter for a long time. I don’t think he’s going to be there anymore. They’re are going to have him as an opening prelim. Not prelim like prelims.” While most MMA veterans condemned the behavior, Thomson, on the other hand, felt he may not feature in the main event again. 

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He continued, “He’ll be an opening main card fighter or a middle of the card main card fighter. He won’t be the main event now. I don’t think again and if he is it won’t be on a pay-per-view. I think that the comments of Dana afterwards, he just didn’t seem like… I think he was done with the Colby thing.”

When Dana White was asked about Colby’s escalation in the trash talk involving Edward’s dad at the UFC 296 press conference, he mentioned how it bothered many including him, and said, “What I really don’t like is when you start going after family and whether it’s the kids, the wife, the parents, the whatever…it’s just such a nasty thing to do.”

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Colby got his title shot against Leon Edwards even after staying away from the Octagon for 21 months. However, after his disappointing performance at UFC 296 and his recent controversy at the press conference, will we see ‘Chaos’ in action again? 

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What’s next in store for “Chaos” after his dismal performance at UFC 296?

UFC 296 ended with a limping Colby Covington walking out of the Octagon with ice packs around his legs. While many believed ‘Chaos’ would be a formidable opponent for Edwards. The 35-year-old could manage to win just one round against the champion. After his loss, Convington seemed not in touch with reality, and said, I feel great. I didn’t feel like I got touched.”

Covington last managed to win a fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272. However, his record in world title fights is 0-3. He called out Stephen Thompson for a fight but fans want to see Covington take on a top 5 prospect like Shavkat Rakhmonov. This might come as a relief for fans as Convington too promised, I’d like to get to back to work next week. I’m only going to learn from this…. I will come back stronger.”

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Before Edwards, ‘Chaos’ lost title fights against Kamaru Usman twice. With Covington aging and Dana White terming the fighter ‘Slow and Old’ in a fight, it will be interesting to see whether Covington gets another shot at the welterweight title. Will the 35-year-old feature in any pay-per-view main event again? Let us know in the comments below. 

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Written by:

Anirban Chatterjee

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One take at a time

I am Anirban, an MMA enthusiast with the opportunity to combine my fascination for the sport with my professional adventures as a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Apart from being a professional athlete, MMA and Soccer are sports that I have always enjoyed following. I am a huge fan of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, and Israel Adesanya.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen