Colby Covington doesn’t want Dana White wrapping the welterweight title around his waist with a win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 245, and the UFC president is getting tired of Covington’s talk.
A few days ago, the outspoken former interim champion was asked about his tumultuous relationship with White and the prospect that the UFC president would wrap the title around his waist with a victory in December.
“I can tell you who’s not wrapping it around my waist, and that will not be Dana White,” Covington told Submission Radio. “If he tries to wrap it around my waist, I’m gonna take the belt from him and slap him in the face with it.”
Following UFC on ESPN 6 on Friday night in Boston, White was asked about Covington’s comments.
“Good luck with that,” White responded. “He’s a big mouthed f—king idiot.”
The origin of the beef between the top ranked welterweight contender and the UFC president goes back more than a year, when Covington won the interim title in June and he was stripped of the title just three months after winning it when he was unable to face Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 in September.
Covington was then irritated even further when a title shot was offered to Usman instead of him the following March after Woodley defended his belt against Darren Till.
That’s when Covington hunted White down at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and interrupted his blackjack game to confront him about his title shot. Covington broadcasted the initial confrontation on his Instagram account before he finally spoke to White privately about the situation.
Covington finally returned to action in August where he defeated former champion Robbie Lawler to once again secure his spot as the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division. He then engaged in a public spat with the UFC over contract negotiations for his fight against Usman, which was originally expected to take place on November.
A deal was finally struck for the UFC 245 main event. But Covington’s issues with White haven’t been resolved, and it appears the UFC boss isn’t backing down either ahead of the Dec. 14 card.