Colby Covington: Jon Jones told UFC brass he refuses to share card with me, fears press conference shame
According to Colby Covington, his title fight with Leon Edwards could remain on hold because of a Jon Jones request to the UFC.
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According to Colby Covington, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones refuses to fight on the same card as him.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) is set to headline UFC 295 where he’ll defend his title against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), who’s slated to challenge welterweight champion Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC), wants to book his title fight for the same card.
Covington has not minced his words when speaking about Jones, who was his college roommate, throughout the years, and thinks the UFC needs him and Edwards as a backup on the card given Jones’ troubled past outside the octagon.
“Is Jon Jones going to be willing to share a card with his former college roommate who knows all his dirty secrets, all the dirty skeletons in his closet?” Covington said in an interview with Michael Bisping on his YouTube channel. “I bet that he’s going over to the UFC right now and he’s telling them, ‘Yo, I’m not sharing a card with Colby. I will refuse to fight here.’
“So, the only way I see that fight happening is, we know Jon’s unpredictable, we know he might go sniff some white girls, kind of like Joe Biden. He’s not to be relied on. He might get pulled off the card, and we might have to save the day and be the main event.”
Covington went so far as to say that he was told that Jones specifically requested from UFC brass that Covington doesn’t share the same card as him.
“A little birdie told me, Michael, that he went backstage with the suits and the big dogs of the UFC and said, hey, he refuses to share a card with me,” Covington said. “So, they’re gonna give him what he wants. They don’t want to ruin their New York show, and they’re still hoping he shows up. But they need a backup plan. He’s not reliable. I’m the ultimate company man.
“When I say – and I give my word to the UFC – that I’m showing up, I’m showing up. I’ve never, ever pulled out of one fight. I’m always the ultimate professional, and that’s what I do best. The UFC knows they can rely on me. That’s why I’m in this position. It sucks that Jon doesn’t want to share a card. It wouldn’t even be talking sh*t, Mike. It would just be talking truth. If you can’t handle the truth in today’s society, then go get a safe space.”
Covington also accused Jones of taking steroids early in his athletic career, which he said caused Jones to lash out on him.
“It all went sour when he started doing steroids to bulk up,” Covington said. “So, his mood swings and all the stuff he was putting in his body was affecting his emotions, and he had mood swings. He would literally just be bipolar. One day he would be completely fine and we would be best friends; the next day he would just be like, ‘Oh, Colby! Your shoes are messed up wrong. Why didn’t you put them perfectly in the corner?’ I’m like, ‘Bro, it’s just my shoes. What’s the big deal? We’ve been tighter than that and closer than that for long enough.’
“Not even that, Mike. Look at the piece of sh*t that he is. His last felony, he’s beating up his wife, left his wife a bloody mess in that hotel and went to jail. This guy is a dirtbag. Hitting a Bentley with two hookers in the back. Hitting a pregnant lady at a stop sign, then fleeing the scene with drugs. It’s just countless thing after thing, failing steroid tests. The truth is the truth. I don’t have any skeletons in my closet, and I want the world to see it. I don’t want him being painted in a good light because he’s not a God-fearing man. He’s an evil spirit.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.