UFC fighter Colby Covington appeared to threaten a TV commentator's life in an unhinged rant

• Colby Covington appeared to threaten broadcaster Jon Anik in an unhinged rant Tuesday.
• It was seemingly all over an innocuous tweet Anik posted last week.

American wrestler Colby Covington appeared to threaten a TV commentator's life in an unhinged rant Tuesday.

"Dude, I don't want your kids to grow up without a dad," he said during an interview with MMA Fighting, in a statement aimed at UFC analyst Jon Anik.

"[But] just realize, you live in Boca, I live in Miami, motherfucker. You're not too far from me so you better shut your fucking mouth."

A possible reason for Covington's grievance with Anik stems from events that unfolded in the build-up to the UFC's last big pay-per-view event in London.

One day before UFC 286 at the 02 Arena — where Leon Edwards went on to defeat Kamaru Usman for a second time in a welterweight title defense — Covington surprised observers when he weighed in as a backup for the main event.

Covington wasn't needed on the night but is now in line to fight Edwards in the Briton's second title defense later this year.

"[I] understand acutely why Colby Covington was the back-up but hard not to feel for Belal Muhammad," Anik tweeted at the time, alluding to Muhammad's nine-fight unbeaten streak.

Anik went on to point out that the fighter "hasn't lost in 4-plus years" and just knocked out "a previously undefeated fighter" in Sean Brady.

This seemed to rankle Covington

It is unclear if Covington was playing up to a gimmick he has seemingly created, in which he says heinous things, or if he really has animosity toward Anik — a respected figure in the MMA industry.

However, of Anik, Covington said: "He's supposed to be impartial, he's supposed to have that headset, he's supposed to be an interviewer, he's supposed to remain impartial.

"You want to be a cheerleader? Put down the headset, pick up the pom-poms, go on the side, and be a cheerleader."

He finished by later remarking: "You poke the bear, now you get the bear comes after you."

Muhammad leaped to Anik's defense

It didn't take long for Muhammad, who will likely have to fight rising phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov to earn his own title shot, to leap to Anik's defense.

"You're coming at a guy like Jon Anik, who is the nicest guy in the world, and why? Because Jon Anik gave me an interview?" Muhammad said in a separate interview with MMA Fighting.

The UFC's next pay-per-view show is in Covington's hometown of Miami, for UFC 287 at the Miami-Dade Arena, and Muhammad said he hopes to bump into his welterweight rival there.

"I told Jon, I texted Jon, and I said I can't wait to come to Miami in two weeks because I'm cornering my teammate Ignacio Bahamondes, and I wish I see Colby there.

"I wish that he even looks at Jon in a certain way of disrespect. I swear I'm going to walk right up to him and slap him right in his mouth."

He finished: "You're threatening a commentator, and you're acting all this tough talk right now to a guy like Jon Anik? It just pisses me off."

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya headline the UFC 287 main event, with Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal in the co-main.

As the UFC's lead play-by-play guy, Anik will likely resume his role in the commentary booth for the broadcast package available to ESPN subscribers.