Colby Covington offers ‘formal apology’ for post-fight insults

Colby Covington’s defeat of Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia in Sao Paulo last night was punctuated by his over-the-top post-fight interview where he called…

By: Stephie Haynes | 6 years ago
Colby Covington offers ‘formal apology’ for post-fight insults
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Colby Covington’s defeat of Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia in Sao Paulo last night was punctuated by his over-the-top post-fight interview where he called Brazil “a dump” and its citizens “filthy animals.” Obviously he was cutting a promo, but in all likelihood, he went too far with it.

As he was leaving the cage and making the walk back to the locker room area, angry fans in the arena threw bottles and trash at him while shouting their outrage in response to his insults of their nation. It wasn’t a full-on riot, but one got the feeling that if “Chaos” had taken too much time getting out of there, his security team might actually need to put their protective services into operative action.

The UFC isn’t happy with Covington’s comments either, as one of their executives, David Shaw, addressed the incident at the post-fight presser;

“It’s already being reviewed by our code of conduct committee, and it’s something we are not very happy about.”

This afternoon, Colby doubled down by issuing a “formal” apology, which seems to lack the contrite nature sincere apologies convey:

“Formal Apology:

I went to work last week. I was screamed at, spit at, assaulted with water bottles and other objects by an angry mob and serenaded by 10000 voices yelling “you are going to die.” My employer had to place security at my hotel room to protect me.

I would like to formally apologize to any filthy animal I offended by comparing them to my hosts in São Paulo.

Sincerely,

Colby Covington”

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About the author
Stephie Haynes
Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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