Despite being finished by bitter rival Kamaru Usman last December, Colby Covington is back causing chaos, however not all of it is directed at his nemesis.
At UFC 245, Covington squared off against Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship in what many believe to be the greatest title fights in the division’s history. In the fifth round, Usman silenced doubters by knocking the challenger down twice and then initiating ruthless ground and pound to secure the finish.
But as soon as referee Marc Goddard stopped the contest, Covington — and many fans — was quick to protest the decision, claiming it was an early stoppage.
In an interview with The Score’s James Lynch, the former interim champion criticized Goddard’s officiating.
“In my head, I had it 4-0,” said Covington. “My coaches told me ‘Hey, you’re up four zero. At the worst your up three to one going into the fifth.’ So I was like ok, I’ve got this in the bag, you know, this is my fight. I was controlling the fight, even throughout the times where he had momentum shifts and was taking breaks.”
Covington is referring to two incidents in the fight, the first being where he allegedly landed a low blow on his opponent and the second being an eye poke. Covington denies both, claiming Usman was just seeking a break.
“The second round I kicked him right clearly in the liver, and Marty Fakenewsman was ready to fold up like a lawn chair, but he was like ‘No, Marc Goddard, save me, please. My nuts, oh it’s my nuts.’ No, its your organs, they’re ready to shut down and you’re ready to quit the fight.”
“He gets a life saver, you know, given five minutes to recover and get back to normal then start to fight again. That’s why they call him Fakenewsman. The guy’s a complete fake, he’s a liar, he’s a fraud, and his acting skills are terrible. You’ll never see him in Hollywood or the WWE.”
Shortly after dismissing Usman’s claims of a low blow and an eye poke, Covington set his sights on highly respected referee Marc Goddard.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got a shitty ass ref who doesn’t know how to do his job in Marc Goddard. It’s more like Marc-not-so-Goddard. The guys a fake man, he was on Marty Fakenewsman’s nuts the whole entire fight.”
The Oregon State wrestler wasn’t finished there, and unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on Goddard, telling him to never return to the States again.
“Not only did I get robbed of a fair fight, I got robbed of a war. I got robbed of a fight to the death. I know my will, I know how strong of a fighter I am, so when you stop a fight that early and there’s no justification behind it… [I was] completely coherent and completely fine, on my knees on a double leg extended out relaxing. I grew up wrestling, that’s a position I relax in. I was relaxing. And then Marty Fakenewsman starts hitting me on the back of the head four times, and Marc Goddard’s not even calling anything.”
“It’s right in front of your face dude, it’s a clear foul. A hit in the back of the head is a clear foul. Not the fake fouls where I kicked him in the liver or when I poked him in the other eye and supposedly gets a little stoppage. Oh no, this is a real foul in front of your fucking face, Marc Goddard. He’s hitting me on the back of the head and I’m still covering, coherent and completely fine. What was the stoppage for? So I want my rematch with Marty Fakenewsman. That was some bullshit – fake ref, fake fighter, fake fight – if I won like that, I wouldn’t accept a win like that. I’d want a rematch.”
Covington then claimed Goddard refused a timeout on his behalf due to the two that took place earlier in the fight.
“When Marty Fakenewsman poked me in the eye in the fourth round, Marc Goddard said ‘no more timeouts, you guys keep fighting.’ What? No more timeouts? So you’re acknowledging that you gave Marty Fakenewsman two timeouts before and they’re fake, and now you’re acknowledging that.”
“And then in the fifth round the fake stoppage and the hits on the back of the head, how’s nobody acknowledging that? How’s none of the media saying ‘hey, a point should be taken away’? If someone fakes a fucking timeout or injury, there needs to be a point taken away for that. How [come] nobody’s talking about that?”
“I’m covering the back of my head, I’m intelligently defending myself. How fucking stupid are you, Marc Goddard!? Get a new fucking job because you fucking suck you piece of shit. And stay in fucking England, don’t come back to America you fucking cocksucker.”
“I promise you Marc Goddard will not come within ten feet of me if we’re in the same room, [with] anything I ever do in my life, without getting smacked or getting a fucking wedgie upside his head.”