LAS VEGAS – Leon Edwards is confused by Colby Covington’s love for former U.S. president Donald Trump.
Trump, Covington said, will be in attendance for his title opportunity against welterweight champion Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 296 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.
Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), who brought his interim welterweight title to the White House when Trump was sitting president, sported a custom suit that had Trump’s mugshot on the back from when he was indicted on racketeering and related charges in August.
Edwards doesn’t get Covington’s fascination with Trump.
“I don’t know, I think the whole scenario is weird.” Edwards told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 296 media day. “That’s what I make of it. I don’t get the fascination with another man, you know? I don’t get it.
“I know he used to be the president and stuff, but he’s no longer the president. I don’t get what’s going on. I don’t know. It’s just weird, why he picked him just to be a character off the back of him.”
Covington said the former president will wrap the welterweight title around his waist if he’s able to dethrone Edwards. He even requested that he walk him out, but said the UFC declined for safety reasons.
“I just don’t get it, and Trump will wrap nothing around his waist because he ain’t getting a belt,” Edwards said. “Trump has been at his fights before when he’s lost. Trump can’t fight for him. He just needs to grow up and go get a girlfriend or something.”
Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice. Since he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, he has been indicted on more than 30 felony counts in New York related to allegedly falsifying business records, and another 40 in Florida. He’s also been indicted in Washington, D.C., for his role in the attempt by his supporters to overthrow the government and stop Biden from becoming the legally elected president Jan. 6, 2021, and in Georgia for his alleged attempt to overturn the election.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
