Dana White Says Colby Covington Looked ‘Slow and Old’ at UFC 296

Dana White acknowledged Colby Covington’s poor showing against Leon Edwards in the UFC 296 main event.

White was the one to propose Covington’s name for the title shot although Belal Muhammad, on a 10-fight winning streak, was widely considered to be the rightful contender. White adamantly went ahead with his decision despite Edwards repeatedly pointing out Covington’s long layoff and lack of recent success.

Edwards vowed to give “Chaos” a rude awakening and delivered on his promise at the UFC 296 headliner. “Rocky” outstruck Covington on the feet, stuffed his wrestling game and even went on to land his own takedowns. Covington bizarrely went on to raise his hands after the lackluster showing and even doubled down on his stance in the post-fight presser, crying robbery due to alleged political bias.

However, even White couldn’t disagree more with Covington, who appeared “slow and old” to the Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO on fight night.

“My take on it is when you’re 35 years old or any age in this sport and you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to wait,’ waiting is never a good idea in this sport. This sport doesn’t wait for anybody.

“He looked slow tonight. He got outwrestled. Leon looked good; Leon looked fast. Looked like [Colby] had trouble dealing with his speed and then getting outwrestled too. Not to mention Leon absolutely destroyed that leg, too.

“I think pressure gets to everybody. I’m sure Leon had a ton of pressure. I mean, he was just talking about what [Colby] said about his father and the last thing you want to do now is go out and lose to that guy. All these guys deal with pressure, but Colby’s been in big fights before. This isn’t Colby’s first rodeo. He’s been in big fights… Colby just looked slow and old tonight, in my opinion. I think everybody felt the same way. I mean, he got out-wrestled by Leon tonight.”