Another week. Another fighter has added Colby Covington to their hate list.
This time its UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje, who was side-by-side with the controversial fighter at a rally in Nevada for President Donald Trump. There’s even a photo of Gaethje standing next to Covington, his manager Ali Abdelaziz, Dana White, and Henry Cejudo.
According to Gaethje, he actually didn’t have a problem with the former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion at the rally as Covington was completely the opposite of his on-screen persona. However, Covington has been stirring up more controversy lately due to his racist comments he made about Kamaru Usman.
While Gaethje never mentions what made him turn a corner about his feelings regarding Covington, he does state that Covington’s interview following the rally have made him dislike the brash fighter, with the 31-year-old labeling him as a “fake” and a “coward” (Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting):
“The day after that [rally], I was singing his praises because of how professional he was and how he held himself,” Gaethje explained during the UFC 254 media day. But then he went onto do a bunch of interviews and I probably despise that man more than anybody on planet Earth, other than like child pedophiles and murderers and things like that.”
“He is a coward – he’s a fake person,” Gaethje said. “He stands there and acts like this soft-hearted dude, and then he gets behind the camera and he’s a total coward and a fake person. I’ve never met someone as fake as Colby Covington. As a man, I would love to slap him right across the face.”
Thus far, Covington hasn’t responded to Gaethje’s recent comments. The UFC Interim Lightweight Champion is scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the official title on October 24.