UFC 245 Defending Champions React To Colby Covington’s Recent Revelation

Former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington is challenging UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman for the strap in the main event of UFC 245.

The former interim champion recently revealed that his controversial actions are merely the fighter’s way of ensuring that the UFC didn’t cut him after a bout against Demian Maia in Brazil. 

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Max Holloway, who defends the featherweight gold against Alexander Volkanovski this weekend at UFC 245, calls the whole situation “heavy.”

”That’s heavy, cuz,” he said at the UFC 245 athlete panel (via Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting). “If you’re going to put up an act, I think you’ve got to stay with the act. When you retire, like WWE guys, they do their stuff, and they keep that act no matter where they’re at, and then when they retire, then they talk about, oh, it was an act. I’m kind of surprised that he came out of nowhere and said it.”

Amanda Nunes, who defends the women’s bantamweight title against Germaine De Randamie on Saturday Night, believes that Covington needs to surround himself with good people.

”They have me on a leash, for sure, because this lifestyle is crazy,” she said. “You don’t know how to handle it some times, but that’s why you surround yourself with good people who have your back.”

Usman, who is facing Covington this weekend, believes that Covington is simply trying to find a way out in case he isn’t successful at UFC 245.

”If you’re putting on an act, you’ve got to sell that,” Usman said. “That’s your sh*t. But that just lets me know his weakness...come on, let’s dissect this thing. You’re already finding a way out. ‘People don’t hate, once I get beat up on Saturday, don’t hate me because I was just putting on an act because when they were going to cut me.’ Did you guys realize when I fought Tyron Woodley here in this same exact building, I had my open workout. He showed up at somebody’s open workout – if you want to be the champ, you want to show up at the champ’s open workout and try to distract them, right? Why you [didn’t] show up at mine? Because he knew what was going to happen. He knew I was the fight he didn’t want. He’s already been showing his cards for a long time.”

UFC 245 takes place on Saturday, December 14 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.