Pros react after Colby Covington admits that his UFC personality is an act

Earlier this week former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington shocked a lot fans by suggesting that his UFC persona is basically all an act.

‘Chaos‘, who is set to challenge Kamaru Usman for the promotions welterweight title this weekend at UFC 245, sat down with Candace Owen where he revealed that he was seemingly forced to put on an act in order to save his UFC career.

“I’ve never told this story before but three fights ago, before I fought the No. 2 guy in the world, this guy named Demian Maia in Brazil, they had told my manager Dan Lambert that they weren’t going to re-sign me. They didn’t like my style, they didn’t like that I wasn’t entertaining. This is before I really started to become an entertainer and really understand the entertainment aspect of the business. Before this fight, they told me no matter what happens, I was ranked No. 6 in the world, we’re not re-signing you, we don’t like your character, we don’t like your fighting style. And I’m getting paid $30,000 to go fight the No. 2 guy in the world. After you pay taxes and pay your coaches you’re really going to get $5000 or $10,000.”

Colby Covington continued:

“So I go out there and I beat him up and leave him in a pool of blood in Sao Paulo, in his home city. I shoot this promo on the Brazilians and say, ‘You guys are all a bunch of filthy animals and Brazil you’re a dump.’ So I go and shoot this promo, and I wasn’t supposed to have my job, but that promo goes so viral on the internet, that the UFC’s like, we have to keep him, we have to re-sign him because that promo is so big. So that’s what saved my career and that was the turning point of my career. The rest has been history.”

Most recently a number of pros weighed in on Covington’s surprising admission, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway had the following to say (via MMAFighting).

“That’s heavy, cuz,” Holloway said. “If you’re going to put up an act, I think you’ve got to stay with the act. When you retire, like WWE guys, they do their stuff, and they keep that act no matter where they’re at, and then when they retire, then they talk about, oh, it was an act. I’m kind of surprised that he came out of nowhere and said it.”

‘Blessed‘ would later joke that the whole Covington admission has left him “shook”.

Colby Covington’s soon to be opponent Kamaru Usman also took time to share his take on the matter. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had the following to say:

“If you’re putting on an act, you’ve got to sell that,” Usman said. “That’s your sh*t. But that just lets me know his weakness…come on, let’s dissect this thing. You’re already finding a way out. ‘People don’t hate, once I get beat up on Saturday, don’t hate me because I was just putting on an act because when they were going to cut me.’”

Kamaru Usman continued to rip Colby Covington.

“Did you guys realize when I fought Tyron Woodley here in this same exact building, I had my open workout. He showed up at somebody’s open workout – if you want to be the champ, you want to show up at the champ’s open workout and try to distract them, right? Why you [didn’t] show up at mine? Because he knew what was going to happen. He knew I was the fight he didn’t want. He’s already been showing his cards for a long time.”

Current two-division UFC Champion Amanda Nunes also commented on the Covington situation, suggesting that her friends and family are too involved for her to ever put on a fake persona.

“They have me on a leash, for sure, because this lifestyle is crazy,” Nunes said. “You don’t know how to handle it some times, but that’s why you surround yourself with good people who have your back.”

What do you think of the reactions from UFC champions Max Holloway, Kamaru Usman and Amanda Nunes to Colby Covington’s recent admission that his UFC persona is basically all an act? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!