Woodley Calls Covington an Embarrassment

UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley repeatedly called fellow UFC fighter Colby Covington’s actions “embarrassing” on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, there’s a reason for his self-imposed silence when it comes to the division’s loudest contender.

“When I’m looking down the scope and I’m looking through my sniper rifle, you’re (Covington) not in the crosshairs… There’s so many other fighters that are right in that mix that I’m looking at. There’s guys who are fighting, maybe rematches and former champions from different divisions, and people who are really running through it. There’s a lot of hungry guys, and he’s in that category with guys like Darren Till, Kamaru Usman. He’s right in there.”

“The difference between them and him: Those guys are doing it with their gloves. They’re doing it with their actions. He’s just thinking that he’s supposed to talk his way into a title shot, and it’s sad that our sport does that.”

Ever since his victory and controversial aftermath at UFC Sao Paulo, Covington has campaigned hard for the next shot at Woodley on social media. Woodley simply isn’t buying what Covington is selling.

“When you’ve got a person who, he had 5,000 followers until he disrespected an entire country, he doesn’t quite put himself on that same radar,” Woodley said. “When you’ve got a person who fabricates and makes up stories — Chael Sonnen was good at it, Michael Bisping is good at it, Conor McGregor is the best at it. If you’re going to go that road, at least sound right. Don’t on one hand be (saying), ‘I’m this tough guy,’ and your script sound stupid.

“Fans want to see blood and knockouts. They don’t want to see some guy just take somebody down over and over again. So I just find it really corny. And yeah, it’s worked, he talked himself into the Demian Maia and Dong Hyun Kim (fights), two guys I (beat). I wrote the book on Maia; he went out and checked it out at the library. Checked the book out, read it, and went out there and got bloodied by a jiu-jitsu guy. Now he thinks he’s going to fight for a title. Sit down somewhere. He’s embarrassing himself.”

Covington, a product of American Top Team, has used a past gym battle with Woodley as one of the main focal points of his campaign for the title shot, repeatedly claiming that he made Woodley quit in a sparring session at ATT.

But when he hears Covington’s stories, Woodley can’t help but laugh.

“I like to let the things in training camp stay in training camp, but his (story) is so hilarious, (with) how many eyewitnesses (we had), so much video,… Like, I don’t know if he remembers that my gym is camera-ed, so there’s so many videos that show the training. It’s just funny that he would just go on this rant, because he knows. I told him personally. … ‘Do whatever you want to do with it. If this how you feel like you need to make your name, have at it, do what you need to do.’ I said, ‘But I’m not going to give you the time of day.’

“He said, ‘I’m just trying to build a fight, man. I’m trying to make us both money.’ I’m like, ‘I’m already making money. What are you talking about? You don’t need to help me. I’m making money. I’m making more money on FOX than you make in fighting, so why would you need to help me out?’

“When he was the up-and-coming wrestler import, I was the guy who was like, ‘Oh, look, Colby’s here, he’s a wrestler too,’ kinda show him the ropes kind of deal. No respect, man. I remember what I paid him for training camp, that was all the money he had to his name, what I gave him. It was his whole life savings, what I paid him in training camp. Just the irony of this guy.”

Woodley isn’t surprised by Covington’s recent behavior, from calling Brazilians “filthy animals” on national television then pressing charges against Fabricio Werdum for a minor street altercation before UFC Sydney.

“When he came to my gym, he was like, ‘Oh, I need a manager who will pay me to manage me. I need a manager to pay me $40,000 to manage me. I need to be in the UFC right now.’ And at the time, he had one fight,” Woodley said. “He wanted me to tell him how to get sponsors and use my media kits. I’m like, dude, you need to sit down somewhere. I mean, some of his sponsors are from me, so it’s kinda funny. Like, ask him. Some of his sponsors are from me, and they stopped sponsoring him because he’s a complete moron. He makes the sport look horrible. He should’ve been suspended for what he said about Brazil.”

“Imagine he hadn’t said that. Imagine Tyron Woodley says that. I might’ve gotten kicked out of the UFC. Imagine me saying that. Come on now, be for real. Tyron Woodley saying that on the microphone — do you think that’s going to go by under the radar, then they’ll give me a guest appearance at a fight? And even more embarrassingly, you want to press charges because you got hit with a boomerang? Dude, get out of here. I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed to say he’s in my weight class.”

“He should be kicked out of the UFC. Make that the headline. Tyron Woodley says Colby Covington should be kicked out of the UFC for pressing charges for somebody air tossing a boomerang in a plastic bag at his shoulder.”