Colby Covington defeatedTyron Woodley at a behind-closed-doorsUFC event in Las Vegas on Saturday.- Covington regularly wears
Donald Trump merchandise while Woodley wore aBlack Lives Matter shirt this week. - After Covington's fifth-round win, that contrast between the two fighters was brought to the fore.
- "He stands for everything I hate. He stands for evil. He stands for Black Lives Matter," Covington said.
Colby Covington got a congratulatory call from Donald Trump after he finished Tyron Woodley in the fifth round of a UFC fight Saturday.
The American wrestler rebounded from a huge knockout loss to Kamaru Usman last year to best Woodley at the weekend's behind-closed-doors UFC Vegas 11 show.
Woodley never really appeared competitive in the bout, with Covington dominant throughout.
Covington beat Woodley standing-up where he out-worked him with striking output, and on the canvas, where it was clear he was the superior grappler of the two.
By the time the fight was over, Covington had landed 232 of his 311 strikes and completed three of eight takedowns.
After the win, Covington said Trump would defeat Joe Biden just as easily in the US presidential election on November 3. "Ladies and gentlemen, the silent majority is ready to make some noise," he said on the ESPN broadcast.
"If you thought that was a beating, wait until November, when Donald Trump gets his hands on Sleepy Joe. That's gonna be a landslide."
Then, when Covington was conducting another post-event obligation, this time with the UFC presenter Megan Olivi, he excitedly jumped when he saw his phone buzz.
"Oh, the POTUS is calling me!" he said.
With Trump on speaker, the president could be heard saying he was proud of the fighter.
"You are a great fighter," Trump told Covington. "You make it look so easy. I don't know how you do it. Congratulations, I wanted to watch that fight tonight. You were great.
"That was easy work, relatively easy work. I'm proud of you. I just made a big speech, I had 35,000 people, I said I want to get home now to watch Colby. That was fast work.
"I'm a big fan. You're tough. You are something. I appreciated the shout out tonight, too. I'm your fan, you're my fan. Two of a kind."
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 20, 2020
Covington then attended the post-fight press conference and called Black Lives Matter "a complete sham."
He said: "It's a joke. They're taking people that are complete terrorists, taking people who are criminals. These aren't hard-working Americans. These are bad people and they shouldn't be attacking police.
"If you're breaking the law, and threatening cops with weapons you deserve to get what you get."
On Woodley, Covington said: "He's a communist. He's a Marxist. He stands for criminals. He hates America. And that's why he got broke tonight.
"Everything he stands for … is against America. He doesn't like America. He doesn't stand-up for the rights of America, law enforcement, he wants to de-fund the police."
Covington later added: "He stands for everything I hate. He stands for evil. He stands for Black Lives Matter. I stand for America."
Covington advanced to 16 wins (three knockouts, five submissions, and eight decisions) against two losses.
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