Colby Covington certainly knows how to create a stir. Covington emerged from a lengthy break during which he pursued Jorge Masvidal legally. He stunned the MMA community when he weighed in as a backup for UFC 286 main event.
According to reports, Covington declined the opportunity to face Belal Muhammad on the card and instead is opting to pursue the title despite the fact he has no notable wins in a long while. To make matters even more interesting, Dana White intends to honor Covington and offer him a title shot.
This doesn’t sit quite right with the current champion Leon Edwards, who went on the MMA Hour and said he hopes to have a say and to decline Covington’s chances. As you might imagine, this didn’t go over well so Covington opted to unleash a vitriolic rant in return.
“He gets stripped [if he doesn’t take it],” Covington predicts. “He will get stripped. He’s not the draw in this division, I’m the draw. Look at the numbers from over the weekend”
“Leon Scott and Marty Fakenewsman, nobody wants to see these guys, they’re f****** stupid. Listen to Leon, fumbling over everything, there’s no personality, no charisma. Same thing with Marty, he needs a belt to stay relevant.”
“For Leon to sit there and act like he’s Conor McGregor, you’re not Conor McGregor, bro. You don’t get to call the shots. You’re a nobody, dude.”
You might notice here, Covington refers to Leon Edwards as Leon Scott. Likely because Colby wanted to make him sound like some generic Brit who competes on throwaway European UFC cards. There’s a chance he picked Scott because of Bradley Scott and Scott Askham.
Fans took it in stride and even played a prank on Leon and swapped his name on wikipedia briefly.
The nickname started with a guest spot on Chael Sonnen’s channel in which Covington mistakenly referred to Leon Edwards as Leon Scott.
Who is Leon Scott?
This is most likely a reference to Edwards has had prior to UFC 278 – as being somewhat forgettable. At the time Leon Edwards was locked in in UK and couldn’t travel due to the pandemic. This limited his options to diversify in a division of outspoken personalities. Alternatively, it could also be some kind of an odd reference to a British footballer of the same name.
The footballer Leon Scott and Edwards both have a chiseled physique so it’s not exactly impossible.