Zuhosky’s Take #10: Covington Could Go to AEW and Make a Great Heel

There are a multitude of examples that make Colby Covington the character that he is, and we could be sitting here until this time next week, beyond his rematch vs. Kamaru Usman (19-2 MMA, 13-0 UFC) in the UFC 268 main event trying to list them all individually and still not come anywhere remotely close to identifying each one.

There are also comments related to his right-wing political beliefs that have drawn the ire of MMA fans, none of which are relevant to directly mention on this website.

Covington In Trouble With Training Camp

Back in March of 2020, Colby Covington appeared on an episode of the Eurobash podcast by MMA Fighting, where he insulted former UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrezejczyk for all to hear.

Among other vulgar comments made, Covington mentioned that the former champion was “ugly” and “washed up”.

In addition to that, he alleged during the same interview that Jedrezejczyk refused to go out with him on a date, going as far as saying that she tried to engage in flirtatious behavior with him prior to a fight– and she called in later that same podcast episode.

He also made sexist comments directed at Jedrezejczyk in the interview.

“Let’s be honest: I have standards, and she doesn’t fit those standards,” Covington said. “She’s not a seven and a half or up and I only mess with seven and a halves or up.”

American Top Team, where Covington trains, drafted and finalized a zero-tolerance policy against disparaging remarks directed at teammates upon the podcast’s release.

Subsequent to that, Covington departed American Top Team.

Jedrezejczyk Responds to Covington

The former champion at 115 lbs. took the high road when speaking about Covington in an interview with Ariel Helwani last year.

“He has to bow down to the queen and say sorry,” Jedrezejczyk said. “Colby should be more respectful to his teammates and women in general. He should learn how to say, ‘Hi, I’m sorry, I apologize.’ He’s getting there.”

Covington’s Beef With Dustin Poirier

Covington also made pointed comments against Dustin Poirier in the past and in recent times.

In 2020, shortly after Covington left American Top Team, he mentioned that if he were to ever meet Poirier in a fight, “His daughter will not be able to look at him the same way again. And his wife will probably divorce him because he’ll be ugly as (expletive deleted) by the time I’m done with him.”

In September of this year, Covington again challenged Poirier to a fight, this time making even more crass statements regarding his family and his charity, The Good Fight Group.

“Him and his family, they’re Louisiana swamp trash,” he said. “Him and his little Jezebel of a wife, him and his little kid that he uses as a prop like he’s a family man, the fake charity guy, which is a write-off for his business. He doesn’t really donate that money for kids and people. He’s just using that as a tax write-off. He’s a fake nice guy on-camera; he’s a piece of (expletive deleted) off-camera.”

Covington’s Act Would Play Well in AEW

Although Covington is one of the most technically-proficient fighters in MMA today in my mind, his demeanor between the fights is what ticks people off.

Stand-up comedian Joe Rogan explained on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Covington’s bad guy character was born to save his MMA life.

“The story’s interesting. This is what happened,” Rogan began. “They had him scheduled to be cut and he was about to fight Demian Maia, and they told him, ‘Listen, your style sucks.’ I don’t know who said it to him. I don’t know what the words were, but essentially, he said to me, ‘They told me you’re boring and we’re going to cut you even if you win.'”

There’s only one avenue that Covington’s act would play well, and that’s All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Think about it: If Covington goes to AEW, the writers could introduce him and immediately plug him in as a heel and he’d do great.

We’ve seen MMA fighters cross over into the squared circle of sports entertainment before, such as Brock Lesnar and most recently Ronda Rousey, and they were successful in their own right, even if Rousey grew to dislike the WWE Universe in the latter days of her run as RAW Women’s Champion.

Colby Covington could very well be the next person to cross over and be wildly successful at it,

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