Leon Edwards was held back at the UFC 296 press conference on Thursday, after opponent Colby Covington insulted the champion’s late father.
Edwards defends the welterweight title against Covington in Saturday’s main event in Las Vegas, and the latter looked to get under the Jamaican-born Briton’s skin on Thursday (14 December).
“On Saturday night, I’m gonna bring you to a place you never want to be,” said Covington. “I’m gonna bring you to the seventh layer of hell. We’ll say, ‘What’s up?’ to your dad while we’re there.”
Edwards, whose father was shot and killed when the welterweight was just 13 years old, proceeded to throw a water bottle at the American before being held back by security.
When asked if Covington, who was dressed as George Washington and will have Donald Trump in attendance on Saturday, had made things personal, Edwards said: “Not really. The guy’s a piece of s***, but make sure you keep that same energy backstage. Keep that energy backstage.”
“Make sure you save that energy for the ring on Saturday night, b***h,” Covington fired back.
Edwards, 32, won the welterweight title with a stunning knockout of Kamaru Usman in August 2022, having previously lost to the Nigerian-American on points in 2015.
Edwards then outpointed Usman in London in March to retain the title, which Covington has twice failed to win. The American, 35, was stopped by Usman in 2019 and lost to him on points in 2021.
Covington previously held the interim welterweight title.
