UFC 245 welterweight title challenger Colby Covington is doubling down on not allowing Dana White to wrap the welterweight title belt around his waist should Covington defeat Kamaru Usman at UFC 245, but he has someone else in mind to do the honors.
Ever since Dana White and the UFC brass gave Kamaru Usman a world title shot against Tyron Woodley earlier this year instead of Colby Covington, Covington began to unleash rants on the UFC boss, including christening Dana White as “Uncle Fester.” Covington felt that he was the rightful #1 contender after winning the interim championship belt in a bout against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225, and things heated up further when Covington took exception to Dana White claiming that it was Covington who was holding up the fight with Kamaru Usman from taking place. With these things in mind, Colby Covington has come forward with a promise to the MMA community (Via MMA Junkie):
“Everybody knows I ain’t got nothing to say to Uncle Fester,” Covington said on Wednesday’s athlete panel (via MMA Junkie). “He’s not going to wrap that belt (around my waist) on Saturday night. I promise you that.”
Dana White has always been the man to wrap the championship belt around the winner of championship fights on PPV. There have been some rare exceptions, such as Stipe Miocic electing to not have White wrap the belt around him at UFC 220 and, most recently the BMF title fight at UFC 244, which in particular has inspired Covington to hand pick his own belt-wrapper:
“It was tradition until they did the ‘Broken Mediocre Fighting’ championship last (month) in New York, and they gave away that Bernie Sanders participation trophy, and they let The Rock put it on ‘Journeyman Jorge’ (Masvidal),” Covington said. “So, I want Candace Owens to put it around my waist on Saturday night.”
UFC 245 takes place this Saturday, December 14, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
What are your thoughts on Colby Covington’s insistence that Dana White will now wrap the championship belt around his wait at UFC 245?
