Throughout the rise of Colby Covington, from humble up-and-comer to trash-talking, Brazil-insulting contender, he has worn many hats.
Most of them red with “Make America Great Again” emblazoned on them.
Covington, four days ahead of his welterweight title rematch against champion Kamaru Usman in the headliner at Madison Square Garden, sported no headwear for Wednesday’s UFC 268 media day at the New York Hilton Midtown. He did, however, bring a pair of caps with him as props, and placed on the table in front of him: a blue NYPD cap and a red FDNY cap.
“That’s what I’m fighting for Saturday night, you know, law enforcement and all first responders around the world,” Covington said from his seat in front of media members scattered and socially distanced around the room. “Not just NYPD and not just FDNY, but them in particular because of what they did and what they stand for, 9/11, here in New York City.”
Say what you want about Covington (16-2, eight finishes), but the man knows how to play to a certain demographic.
Covington could have simply stuck to appealing to the conservative audience. He could have.
But, if he’d have done that, where would that leave the sophomoric insults he relishes hurling at fighters such as Saturday’s opponent “Marty Juiceman” or rising star Khamzat Chimaev?
No, this is not a 33-year-old Covington who has matured, despite time to reflect upon what one would think was a humbling loss to Usman two years ago. On that December 2019 night in Las Vegas, the defending champ and the challenger pushed each other to the limit. Usman appeared to break Covington’s jaw with a punch in the third round before securing a TKO just 50 seconds before he was likely to win a back-and-forth decision.
“That’s fake news,” said Covington of whether he had suffered a fractured jaw that night. “That’s just the standard from Marty Fake-Newsman, spitting fake news out of his mouth.”
Two years later, Covington continues to model his persona on the former president, whose attention he has sought with all the zest of a puppy wagging his tail for a pat on the head from its owner. He downplays “the common cold” — also known as COVID-19 — that nearly retired young Chimaev in his prime and has claimed the lives of first responders in the city and beyond. He offers no respect for opponents, preferring those derisive monikers he pats himself on the back for concocting.
It’s nothing Covington has accomplished that’s got him in a position to settle the score with Usman (19-1, 10 finishes); not when he hasn’t competed in 14 months. That win, in his lone appearance since the TKO defeat at the champ’s hands, came against washed-up former champion Tyron Woodley. It even came with a metaphorical “Who’s a good boy?” from Donald Trump himself.
It was an impressive individual performance, to be sure, but not more impressive than what Usman has been up to since last they fought. The champ sits uncontested at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings. He’s made four consecutive title defenses, the last two coming earlier this year with neither lasting beyond the 11th minute of a possible 25.
The most notable thing Covington did this year? Since he hasn’t competed, that’s gotta be his vulgar comments about fellow UFC fighter Polyana Viana, who had considered him a friend before turning her into an alleged sexual conquest — or at least joking about such a thing, which is no excuse.
Usman, who at least seems to realize that his rival is the most bankable option available in his division at the moment — perhaps the only reason this fight was put together at this time — thinks Covington’s schtick is played out.
“It’s definitely run its course,” Usman told The Post on Tuesday. “Let’s be honest. We all know that. But that was just another angle for him to try to up himself. Of course, [Donald] Trump was in power when that first fight took place, and he used it; he used them. It wasn’t necessarily, ‘Oh, they love him’ or this or that. He used them because that was an angle for him to become a controversial figure. And he did that.”
At least in the beginning, Covington courted controversy to augment his success in the cage, when he was 10-1 in the UFC entering the first Usman fight. Lately, it has been all style — if you can call it that — over substance.
On Saturday, it’s up to him to change that.