Viewers are mocking Colby Covington over one detail that many missed from his UFC Tampa main event walkout.
The former interim welterweight champion stepped up on short notice to face Joaquin Buckley on Saturday night in his adopted home state. But he was unable to ever get going, and ended up being stopped after suffering a gruesome cut over his eye.
He made an epic ring walk on the night, flanked by legendary WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan and UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen. However, fans noticed one little flaw in his plan, which hurt the presentation of his walkout.
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Colby Covington walked out for Joaquin Buckley fight with Hulk Hogan
During the build-up for his short-notice UFC return, Colby Covington had teased bringing a special guest with him for his ring walk. A close friend of the Trump family, some theorised that President Elect Donald Trump would join him on the way to the cage.
However, sneaking in the United States President Elect to a venue would be next to impossible, and it ended up that he made the walk with WWE icon Hulk Hogan. The pair are both controversial for their various comments on and off record, and seemed a relatively solid pairing in actuality.
Covington even walked out to Hulk Hogan’s famous theme song ‘Real American’, and was roundly booed by the Tampa crowd. Meanwhile, the wrestling star held aloft an American flag as he made his way to the octagon.
Fans mock Colby Covington for walkout blunder
Unfortunately for Covington, the bad news started before the fight as fans noticed that he had made a key step in order to pull of a stunt during his walk. It is customary for athletes to wear a fight kit to the octagon, before removing their top and being checked by officials.
However, Covington opted to channel Hulk Hogan and tear his shirt off in dramatic fashion. In order to do that effectively, though, he had to make slight cuts to the fabric of his outfit, which became obvious to those watching closely.
Fans quickly took to social media to troll Covington for doing something so goofy, and theoretically being unable to legitimately tear open his shirt. Misfits Boxing commentator Ben Davis noticed first, writing to his followers: “Colby cut his shirt before ripping it in half. Please cut this idiot.”
Strawweight contender Diana Belbita also spotted the hilarious gaffe, adding: “Colby had his shirt cut already before he ripped it.” When one fan replied “Well yeah, UFC fight gear would be pretty hard to just rip,” she noted that just last week Ian Machado Garry’s actual fight shorts tore.
Colby Covington stopped by Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa
The fight didn’t go Covington’s way either, with doctors stepping in to cancel the bout after he suffered a gruesome cut early that proceeded to get worse. It looked as though a punch on the way into a takedown attempt caught him and opened up his eye socket, which concerned doctors between rounds.
However, the cut didn’t really effect things too much, with Buckley dominating pretty much from the opening bell. He appeared to find his punching range early and was landing big shots at will, as well as avoiding the threat of the takedown and landing a knockdown right at the end of the first.
Covington managed to get him down in the second, but not for long and the fight returned to the feet quickly. By the third, it was clear the direction the fight was going, and doctors didn’t even consider allowing Covington to continue. It marks his second consecutive loss.
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