If you thought Colby Covington was actually going to formally apologize for and regret his UFC Fight Night 119 post-fight interview, you’re terribly mistaken.
Covington defeated longtime welterweight contender Demian Maia in Saturday night’s co-main event, and afterwards called Brazil a “dump” and the Sao Paulo crowd “filthy animals.” The next day Covington issued a mocking “formal apology.”
In an interview with BloodyElbow.com, Covington said he is “only looking forward” and has “no regrets in life.”
“I said what I said. I don’t take anything back,” Covington said. “I always have a reason for why I do something. I say a lot of truth, and I say something because I mean it. There was a reason why I said that: they acted like a bunch of animals, and I’m not OK with that.”
The UFC Sao Paulo crowd was clearly insulted by Covington’s comments, as a number of fans threw garbage and other items at Covington after the fight. The No. 3-ranked welterweight had to be escorted to backstage (and later to his hotel) by extra security.
Covington said wasn’t surprised by what the hostile crowd did in response to his controversial post-fight interview. He doesn’t care about what the crowd did, either.
“I expected that type of reaction,” Covington said, noting that Maia is the most successful Brazilian 170-pound fighter in UFC history. “I expected them to be like that. But I didn’t get in this to make friends. Some teammates are mad, Brazil is mad. Whatever. Brazil hates me. Oh, big deal. Cry me a river, build a bridge, and walk over it.”
Covington, who said he’ll probably never travel to Brazil again, accepts the fact that he probably lost several fans last weekend, but with that comes financial success, he said. Covington, who is now riding a five-fight winning streak, added that people will want to see him lose, so because of that, he will draw many eyeballs to his fights.
“I wouldn’t say I’m sort of a heel; I’m probably the most hated guy in MMA right now, and I’m OK with that,” he said. “And yes, 100 percent, that will sell. People will want to see me knocked out. They want to see me beat. There’s no one in the division that can beat me; not even the champion can beat me. So you might as well put the champion (up against me); he might have the best chance, even though he’ll be a 2-to-1 underdog. But yes, a lot of people are gonna want to see me [lose], and it will be financially advantageous.”
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