Colby Covington isn’t pleased with being left off the Freedom 250 card at the White House this June.
“Chaos” has spent years honing his MAGA-loving gimmick and has met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the past, which made him seem like a shoo-in to compete at the first ever professional sporting event to be held on White House grounds. Considering the entire card is pretty much cronyism at its finest, Covington’s absence was a bit of a surprise when the event’s full line-up was announced last weekend.
It seems Covington is as surprised as anyone.
“I really wanted it [to be on the Freedom 250 card],” Covington said in a recent interview with Submission Radio (h/t MMA Fighting). “I asked for anybody. I said I’d fight anybody on God’s green earth on the White House card just to get that opportunity to fight in front of my hero, Donald Trump, and all the great politicians that I’m friends with up in D.C. It’s just unfortunate, but I don’t make the decisions, that’s up to UFC, that’s up to Hunter Campbell, they said they didn’t need my services.
“They said they only wanted me to fight the winner of Malott and Burns, so I respectfully agreed to that like I agree to every fight they’ve ever offered me. It’s just unfortunate, but like the saying goes, life goes on.”
Covington went on vent frustrations over his lack of activity of late.
“They’ve just had me sitting around for the last 14 months doing nothing, twiddling my thumbs,” Covington bemoaned. “They haven’t offered me one f*cking fight. They’re supposed to be offering me three fights a year by contractual law, so I’m not trying to get into a suing match or a pissing match, but it’s just not fair to me, you know? They’re not giving me an opportunity to earn and it’s sh*tty because not only are you not giving me a chance to earn, you’re not letting me earn anywhere else.”
Covington has competed for RAF (Real American Freestyle, an upstart wrestling promotion), headlining RAF 5 and beating Luke Rockhold earlier this month. He’s expected to face Dillon Danis in the main event of RAF 7. For Covington, however, the real money is in MMA, with his window in the sport quickly closing.
Traditionally a company man, Covington appears at odds with the UFC, and struck a tone similar to Ronda Rousey of late.
“Every step of the way I’ve been treated like sh*t,” Covington said. “I’ve tried to play the company role, but I’m just over it. It’s just frustrating and there’s nothing we can do about it. You’ve got to just keep on trucking.”
“I just think that the UFC has checked out. They got the $8 billion from Paramount. They don’t care about putting on the most best, exciting fights.”
There’s a faint hope Covington could be a late addition to the White House card on June 14, of course. And Bo Nickal, scheduled to face Kyle Daukaus at Freedom 250, has expressed his willingness to face Covington.
“Colby, I haven’t signed a contract yet. We can still make this happen,” he wrote on social media in response to Covington’s complaints. “In all honesty I do think you deserve to be on the White House card. If you want to fight we can both call Hunter together and make it happen.”
