Colby Covington blasts Tony Ferguson ahead of UFC 296 Return: 'You still seeing ghosts, kidnapping your kids?

12/15/2023 01:30 PM

As expected, Colby Covington garnered most of the attention at the UFC 296 press conference on Thursday evening.

Dressed like he was attending a 2nd-grade Revolutionary War reenactment, Covington stepped on the stage with plenty of ammunition for his opposition on Saturday night, Leon Edwards. However, the most interesting, and perhaps bizarre moment of the press event came when Covington exchanged a series of verbal jabs with Tony Ferguson before quickly deciding they were going to go back to being bros.

It all began as Colby Covington was dominating the mic and admonishing his fellow fighters on the panel. Taking exception, Ferguson chimed in saying, “F*ck you, Colby. I’m the main event, dog. I’m more American than you.”

“This Benedict Arnold motherf*cker,” Covington responded. “Damn Tony, I was rooting for you. I like America. I’m still gonna root for you even if you’re an American douchebag. Just don’t go out there and lose seven fights in a row.”

Their profanity-laced exchange continued with a minute-long back and forth that included Covington taking jabs at Ferguson’s knockout loss to Michael Chandler and slamming their respective weight classes. Ferguson also told Covington to “Get Trump’s s*ck out of your mouth” before they both decided to squash their beef over a mutual love of America.

Fans Left Confused by Colby Covington’s Awkward Exchange with Tony Ferguson

Fans were understandably confused by the strange turn of events with one saying, “That was the most odd back and forth I’ve ever witnessed.”  

“Literally quite possibly the most American thing ever,” another added. 

Uniting Colby Covington and Tony Ferguson at UFC 296 will be their British opposition. ‘El Cucuy’ will look to snap a six-fight win streak dating back to 2019 when he meets Liverpudlian standout Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett.

In the main event of the evening, Covington will step into the Octagon for his third welterweight title fight after coming up short in his first two attempts to claim gold against then-champion Kamaru Usman. This time, ‘Chaos’ will be tasked with taking out Leon Edwards who bested the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ in back-to-back bouts, successfully capturing and defending the 170-pound crown.