Colby Covington says UFC is ‘corrupt’ after title fight negotiations stalled
Read Time:3 Minute, 30 Second
Colby Covington is not happy with the UFC as of right now.
After he beat Robbie Lawler at UFC Newark, in a fight he took on short notice, he was supposed to get a title shot. However, reports came out that negotiations between Kamaru Usman and Covington hit a snag and they were heading in a different direction.
If Covington does indeed get passed up, it would not be the first time he was. He won the interim title at UFC 225, yet never fought for the title. Instead, it was Darren Till and then Kamaru Usman who got the title fights. For “Chaos” he believes the UFC is corrupt for how they are handling this situation. Especially, after they promised a title shot for stepping in on short notice to fight at UFC Newark.
βThat is accurate. Itβs crazy, itβs corrupt and itβs not right,β Covington said to MMA Fighting. βThe fighters need to learn a piece of advice from me and learn from my situation that youβve got to stand up for what you believe in and what you earn more importantly. The companyβs killing it. 30 percent growth last quarter, making billions, the ESPN deal, sponsor revenue, theyβre absolutely killing it and theyβre going to go public soon and they donβt want to pay the fighters. Iβm one of one.”
βNo one has done what Iβve done, no one has broke the record for most strikes thrown in a fight, no one went to the White House. No oneβs hung out with the Trumps in Trump Tower. Iβve done things that no one has ever done before and look how the UFC treats me. How do you think theyβre going to treat other guys who havenβt even done half of what Iβve done?β
Why Covington turned down the fight offer was simple.
He says the UFC came with one offer and said take it or leave it. It was also a basic challenger rate, which he says it not fair given the fact he was the interim champion.
βWhat happened exactly was the UFC came to me and offered me a basic challengerβs rate,β Covington explained. βI said no, Iβm not challenging. Iβm champion. Iβve never lost, I just defended my title. I brought in the Trumps. I got a tweet from [Donald] Trump, thatβs like $3.5 million in marketing. If you break down the analytics of it, in itself, just to promote their show. βve put my life on the line for this company. Went to Brazil, said outlandish things where people literally wanted to kill me and I had gangs in favelas coming after me and they still want to come at me with this basic challenger, entry fee type money? Iβm standing up for whatβs right.β
In the end, Colby Covington is not happy with the UFC’s negotiation tactic as he says it a ‘corrupt and unfair.’ They only gave him one offer and didn’t even try to negotiate at all with him.
βThey didnβt give me a negotiation. They said βtake this or weβll just move onto someone elseβ. Thatβs not negotiating, thatβs bad business. And if thatβs how they want to do business, thatβs their problem. Thatβs not my problem,β Covington said. They came with those hostage negotiations. They come and say βtake this offer or weβll just move onto the next personβ. Thatβs not how negotiating works. I read βArt of the Dealβ from Donald Trump. I know how to work a deal and how deals work. Theyβre not going to take advantage of me and try to put me in a hostage position where they donβt give me any say or any room to negotiate. Thatβs not fair and itβs not right.β
____
Make sure to follow The Scrap News (@thescrapnews) on Twitter.
The Scrap’s Cole Shelton is a full-time MMA writer for various news outlets. Make sure to follow Cole on Twitter (@ColeShelton91) for aΒ variety of content.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
About Post Author
Average Rating