Colby Covington has nothing nice to say when it comes to most people. This is especially true when it comes to athletes outside the UFC. For years, he’s taken shots at LeBron James, despite the fact that James probably has no idea who he is. Whether it’s basketball, soccer, football or any other major sport, Covington has made it clear—he thinks they’ve all gone soft.
Most recently, Covington set his sights on the NBA again, branding the league as weak and claiming it has sold itself out to China. But he didn’t stop there.
In 2020, during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement, LeBron and a number of other sporting stars. knelt down during the national anthem. According to Covington, this is the most sacrilegious thing one could do, disrespecting the country that gave them everything and made them what they are today. Many in the NBA advocated for Kamala Harris in the 2024 American presidential elections, something which has not gone down well with Covington, since he is also a Donald Trump supporter.
According to Covington, this is a part of a more wider problem with sports in America including the NFL and especially the NBA becoming more ‘soft’. In a recent conversation with Sean Kelly he said, “Yeah they’re sold. Basketball they are sold out to China, all the stupid little slogans they have on the jerseys, equality, racism is back this and that. They’re trying to create a lot of conflict in his country and it is not right. These players they are just so soft.”
Covington feels that with the NFL and the NBA apparently going soft, there is only one sport left in the United States that is sticking to things as they should be.
Covington makes a case for the UFC
Covington has always been vocal about his love for the UFC and he recently doubled down on why he believes it’s the best sports organization in the world. In his usual brash style, Covington praised the UFC for being as real as it gets, where the top fighters are constantly tested against each other with no room for scripted outcomes.
Another major difference between the the UFC and the likes of the NFL and the NBA is that the UFC never takes a side when it comes to political issues. Nor does it stop its fighters from sharing their thoughts no matter how racist, homophobic or down right problematic they are.
“That is why the UFC is the greatest organization in the world. Because it is as real as it gets. It puts the best fighters against each other and there is no script. Modern-day gladiators,” Covington added.
For Chaos, this is what separates the UFC from other sports. He sees MMA as the ultimate proving ground—where only the toughest survive. Unlike other leagues with controversies over match-fixing or favoritism, Covington insists that in the UFC, there’s no escaping the fight. It’s just two warriors, locked in a cage, battling for greatness.
