Former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington was a guest on Submission Radio recently.

Covington was asked how UFC president Dana White reacted to his decision to turn down the chance to face Leon Edwards, along with the Edward-Belal Muhammad contest from this past weekend and more.

On Leon Edwards’ claims that Colby turned down the fight, and what the talks were actually like with the UFC

It was going to be a price tag. I wanted a little bit more than was in my contract. I just wasn’t going to show up for a normal paycheck to fight that guy. For me to come up and show that up on short notice and fight that guy, you know, the way I fight guys, I redline it every time I fight. So, when I fight, you know you’re getting a Ferrari that’s coming forward, high octane, high energy, and he’s coming to fight and bring the fight. So, if I want to fight at my best, I need a full training camp. So, that fight was never gonna happen unless the UFC was gonna pay for it to happen.”

“They asked me and said, hey, what’s it gonna take Colby, for your price? Because first off, let’s be honest, why are we in this position? Because this guy, irrelevant Leon Scott was supposed to fight some kid named Sputnik. And, you know, Sputnik pulls out a couple of times, he doesn’t want to fight, your hype job is down the drain. Sorry, UFC, your plan, it’s all folded up now. Now it’s all in shame. So, let’s talk about why we got to that position. And once we get to that position, we’re three weeks out. You want me to save your card? You want me to get off the couch when I’m hanging out with Polyana Viana every day, and you want me to show up and save the day and make the UFC great again on short notice? It’s going to take a price tag. It’s not gonna be the basic offer that’s already in my contract. If you’re gonna give me the basic offer, I’m gonna take a full training camp and I’m gonna take my time. I’m gonna fight when I want to fight, when my body’s ready to fight. I’m always ready to fight. I strive on excellence and always being in shape and always ready to fight, but I also want to fight at peak performance. And there’s peaks and valleys, and I know when to peak and how to have my body ready to peak at the right time. So, if I want to have my body peak at the right time, I need a full training camp.”

On not doing favors for the UFC anymore

I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated championship big fight business, I’m not in the charity business anymore. I’ve done so many favors for the UFC, and the UFC is like, oh, we’ll repay you next time, we’ll do a favor for you next time. When did they ever do a favor for me? They’ve never done nothing for me. I’ve showed, I’ve saved their cards, versed Robbie Lawler when I had half of my face ripped off on two, three weeks’ notice. I showed up in Brazil when I wasn’t supposed to be in Brazil. I’ve done so many things for this company. You know, won a title, brought it to the White House. Got the president of the United States calling on their ESPN channel on their last fight, giving them tens of millions of views, the highest-rated post-fight promo that they’ve had on ESPN MMA and UFC MMA existence. So, they need to start giving me what I deserve. I’m sick of this. I’m not gonna be walked all over like a little kid anymore.”

On Leon Edwards’ no contest fight with Belal Muhammad

No, I could care less how he looks. I’ve watched little tapes from here, bits and pieces from the past, and I don’t see anything special. I see a bum. I see a guy that hasn’t fought in two years. What’s the criteria for the rankings? How is he still in the rankings? I know that before they pulled him out of the rankings because of the inactivity and he was ducking fights. He didn’t want to fight little Wonderboy. He didn’t want to fight someone else. So, they pulled him out of the rankings. But now he’s back in the rankings, he still hasn’t fought in two years. He has a no contest – which by the way, that should have been a disqualification, because he did poke the guy in the face in the first round. And backstage, I know that Herb Dean gave them the warning, hey, don’t poke anybody in the eye. Cause that’s the instruction they give every time before you go out for a fight. So, he should have been disqualified. I don’t know how that was a no contest. But that being said, he still hasn’t fought in two years. How is he in the rankings, guys? What’s the criteria?”

On Leon Edwards walling for a title shot post-fight

Oh, I mean it’s hilarious. I mean, I had some people saying, ‘oh, it was an accident’. An accident is if one of the lights above the octagon falls in the octagon and hits one of the fighters in the head. That’s an accident. If Herb Dean has a heart attack in the octagon and he’s not able to ref and they have to call off a fight. That’s an accident. A second eye poke. A third eye poke. Those aren’t accidents. That should have been a disqualification. The guy hasn’t won a fight in two years. Like I said, guys, he’s been turning down fights left and right with multiple people behind me in the rankings that are nobodies. I’m the number one-ranked guy in the world. Me and Marty Fakenewsman have unfinished business, and he knows that. He claims to be from Nigeria, he’s from Arlington, Texas. There’s no city in Texas named Nigeria. And Marty Fakenewsman is the biggest hypocrite in all of sports. I mean, the guy is trashing me for being a Trump supporter, but he’s sitting at a Trump rally front row. Ali’s got him front row at a Trump rally, cause he’s got him like a little leash, like a little dog, walking him around like a little dog. So, me and Marty Fakenesman got unfinished business. Seriously, there’s so much controversy in the first fight. I was winning the fight three to one. Everyone knows I was winning that fight. It was a bullshit stoppage, it was a fake stoppage. Not to mention the fake stoppage with my momentum when I kicked  him in the liver and they called it a nut shot. Oh, I barely grazed one eye. He’s faking the other eye. This is on camera, Marty Fakenewsman, you’re a terrible actor. We know you’re not that good of a fighter and you’re a terrible draw. We know you’re the worst draw, just cause you’ve got no charisma. Literally there’s more charisma with a wet mop than you. But we’ve got unfinished business, and there’s only one fight to make, and that’s me versus Marty Fakenewsman.”

What Dana White told him regarding the Usman/Masvidal rematching happening in September

Their response was, oh, we’re gonna do the Marty verse Jorge fight. I’m like, what are you talking about, Dana? After I starched Tyron Woodley back in September and had the president of the United States calling during the most heated election in the history of the United States, and he called on your ESPN channel and your UFC live tv stream when I’m fighting. I got you all those ratings and you promised me Jorge Masvidal. You said, oh, it’s you and Jorge, that’s the fight to make. Everyone wants to see that. That’s the fight the people want to see. That’s a real grudge match. We actually want to kill each other. We used to be best friends, now we want to kill each other. I’m the king of Miami. He’s walking around like he owns the 305, but he knows who his daddy is. I’m his daddy. I’m Jorge Masvidal’s daddy. I want a father’s day present this year. And let’s be honest guys, I don’t want to get 25 to life, I just want to fight Jorge Masvidal and Marty Fakenewsman. Cause if I’m not fighting them in the octagon, I’m getting 25 to life for fighting him outside the octagon.”

“Dana’s like, oh, Masvidal only had a week preparation for Marty Fakenewsman, so we’ve got to do the rematch cause he only had a week to prepare. I’m like, Dana, what are you talking about, dude? Dustin Poirier came out and exposed Jorge saying that he was training this whole time in his training camp in the lead up to his Dan Hooker fight. He’d been prepared. He’d trained three or four months. And Masvidal knew that if anything happened in that fight, he was going to get the call and be able to capitalize and make more money off it. So, he was training, he was doing his thing. He was training in Poirier’s camp. There was no excuse. He was taking pictures with that Bo Nickle guy, the wrestler, ‘oh, I’m doing this, I’m training with this guy, I’m ready to fight, blah, blah’. There’s no excuse. That fight goes the same way, guys. Marty Fakenewsman’s gonna be boring. He’s gonna beat him up for five rounds. It’s gonna be boring. It’s gonna be the same exact outcome. Why you gonna reward a guy that’s been ducking fights, that’s ducking a fight with me, and then you just automatically give him a title shot? What did he come back and prove? Did he come back and win a fight? No. He didn’t come back and win a fight. I came back and finished Tyron Woodley, an all-time great, a hall-of-famer in the UFC. What has he done since then, besides make excuses and duck fights? I’m here to fight. I’m ready to fight anyone in the world. I’m the best welterweight in the world, and I guarantee that. Mark my words, take it to the bank.”

Dana’s reaction to Colby turning down Leon Edwards

He didn’t like it, guys. He just, he pretty much went, ‘ok,’ and he just hung up and that was the end of the call. He didn’t like what I had to say. But I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated business now, I’m not in the business to do charity. I’ve earned what I’ve earned. Look at my record, guys. I’ve beaten former champions, I’ve beaten hall-of-famers. The list, the resume of all the all-time greats that I’ve beat. I’m in the biggest fights, the pay-per-view fights, you know selling, big draw in the company.”

If there’s a chance he doesn’t fight this year

“Nah, no chance that you don’t see me fight this year. I’m gonna fight this year, just, that fight’s not done. And I’m waiting to see what happens. That’s far from a done deal. We know how hard Jorge street Judas Masvidal is to negotiate with. The guy likes to pick and choose, he thinks he’s a big draw. Dude, what’s your last win? Nate Diaz, a .500 fighter? Who’d you beat before that? Ben Askren, who was 0-4 in the UFC? The guy’s a nobody, he’s a journeyman. He’s the broken mediocre fighter. He’s not a bad motherfucker, he’s a broken mediocre fighter. So, the guy’s a joke, the fight’s not done with him and Marty Fakenewsman. So, I’m gonna wait to see what happens until that fight’s booked and done and sealed. And then I’ll make my decisions from there.”

If he’d be open to fighting Leon Edwards now under the right terms

Yeah, definitely. They know what they can do. They know what they can do to get me to show up for that fight. But I’m not showing up for charity, guys. The guy still hasn’t won in two years. A no contest, that’s not a win, that’s not a fight. He’s gotta come back and win. He needs to rematch that Bailey guy. They need to fight again. That Bailey guy was talking all reckless all week saying, ‘oh, Colby, if I saw that guy in the streets, I’ll slap him, I’ll do this’. Bro, are you kidding me? Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal said the same thing, ‘oh, it’s on sight, I’m gonna smack Colby when I see him in the street’. But then when they see me, it’s head down. Pipe down, little boy. These little boys, they talk reckless in the media, but then when we see each other face to face, it’s not that same energy, it’s a different energy. So, these guys are talking reckless out there. Rerun that Leon fight versus Bailey, cause nobody gives a shit about it. No one wants to watch that hot garbage. The only fight to make was me verse Marty Fakenewsman or me versus Street Judas Masvidal.”

His message to Wonderboy and Gilbert Burns

Let’s also talk about Wonderboy. This guy is a 40-year-old man, he’s claiming to be a boy. What? I guess you can identify these days as whatever you want, cause if he wants to be a boy, he’s a 40-year-old man. He drives around in his Karate van with Karate kids and he watches cartoons. What’s scary about that? There’s nothing scary about that. If his dad was a real man he would have put his son in wrestling, not Karate. The guy’s irrelevant. And Dilbert, Dilbert you’re coming off a knockout loss. You’re a lightweight washout. You’re a scrub. You don’t deserve to fight anything. You need to go beat a couple of bums at lightweight. So, this division is mine. I’m the welterweight king. Nobody’s stopping me. You can delay me UFC, but you cannot deny me.”

On being open to fighting Wonderboy for the right price

Hey, anybody’s on the hitlist if it’s for the right price. I’m a prize fighter, I love to fight. I’m the best fighter in the world. For the right price, I’ll show up and fight anybody in the world.”

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