If Colby Covington really was worried that he was going to get pushed out of the UFC ahead of his bout against Demian Maia, then he has to credit his troll persona as some kind of success. Six years and change later, and despite his failure to close the show when the stakes were highest, he’s made himself a promotional mainstay and got three title fights for his efforts.
Of course, to do that, he’s made a whole lot of enemies along the way. Molding his entire public image around being a guy that wants people to hate him and doesn’t care about anyone other than himself (and Donald Trump), may have kept him in the conversation. It’s just that most of that conversation went something like, ‘Man, that dude’s a jerk.’
Joe Rogan says Covington’s trash talk backfired
Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan was willing to take the criticism a step further, however. In a recent episode of the JRE podcast, the former Fear Factor host gave his thoughts on the notably nasty buildup to Covington’s fight against champion Leon Edwards—wherein ‘Chaos’ tried to turn the murder of Edwards’ father into a fight hype talking point.
“Colby talked so much s—,” UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “It was f***** up [what he said about Leon’s dad].
“That’s Colby. He’s the master at getting under people’s skin. But I think in that fight it backfired. He didn’t look good.”
Joe Rogan gives props to Edwards
As a result of the loss, and the buildup to the fight, Covington saw a pretty immediate and heavy wave of backlash after the event. Fans, pundits, and other fighters were more than happy to bury the MMA Masters talent for his poor showing. But that didn’t mean that Edwards shouldn’t get some credit as well. Despite finishing the fight on his back with Covington in dominant position, Joe Rogan had some praise for the champion.
“I was impressed with Leon,” Joe Rogan admitted. “I think that the problem in that Colby fight is Leon. He was so dangerous. He was so sharp. He is so technical on his feet.”
“[Leon Edward’s] grappling is very good,” he added. “I think that’s where the tactical errors were made. That’s what I was critiquing at the fight. I was like I don’t think he fought the smartest way because I think he could have avoided those exchanges and he had this massive advantage in the standup.
“He still won the fight handily but at the end when Colby’s on top of him, at the very end of the fight, that doesn’t look good.”
No word yet on what might be next for Edwards. It seems most likely that the UFC will pair him up against top contender Belal Muhammad, currently the owner of a 10-fight unbeaten streak. ‘Remember the Name’ previously met ‘Rocky’ back in 2021 in a Fight Night main event. Unfortunately, after a dominant round from Edwards, the fight was ruled a no contest due to an eye poke in the second round.
It has to be said, however, that there hasn’t been much hype for a Muhammad title shot, either from fans, the champ, or even the UFC. Other ideas, like a superfight with Islam Makhachev, a title shot for Shavkat Rakhmonov, or even a surprise fight with Jorge Masvidal have all been bandied about in recent weeks as potential ideas for UFC 300. Hopefully we’ll get some idea of the UFC’s plans in the coming weeks.