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Even outside of the UFC spotlight, Colby Covington remains his controversial self.
‘Chaos’ is set to feature as the main attraction for RAF 5 on Saturday, competing in any form of combat for the first time since his loss at UFC Tampa to Joaquin Buckley in late 2024. The 37-year-old will face off against Luke Rockhold, but despite the prestige of the wrestling match, it was Covington’s exchange with Bo Nickal that captured headlines.
Attending the final press conference before fight night, Colby Covington demanded attention. The former UFC interim welterweight champion took full advantage of being on stage, firing shots at Bo Nickal in the process.
“I’m just here to save wrestling, you know?” Covington said while on stage at the RAF 5 press conference. “Like, you got some boring entitled bozos in this building that think they should be in the headliner.”
“My name’s in history and Madison Square Garden for being the biggest draw there, you know?”
Bo Nickal was quick to interrupt, remembering the fact that Colby Covington lost the fight he was referencing.
As expected, Covington didn’t take the disrespect well. The UFC veteran called out Bo Nickal for his lack of experience at the top level, and in turn called out a defeat that Nickal suffered inside the octagon.
“Didn’t you get beat up by a Dutch kickboxer? I forgot,” Covington continued. “Remember your cardio? You were right, you got beat up by a Dutch kickboxer, that’s right. Come on, Bo.”
“Come on, bro. Have you ever been a main event? No, you’ve never been a main event.”
Covington, as he often does, eased into his flow state on the mic and began teasing Nickal.
The Miami native questioned Nickal’s relationship with fellow Penn State alum Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of serious crimes against children in 2012
“Hey, how many times did you shower at Happy Valley at the Penn State with Jerry Sandusky? I got to know. I really got to know.”
Colby Covington continued his verbal tirade, blaming Bo Nickal for killing the sport of wrestling.
Another signature trait of Covington is to rile up fellow fighters, and later turn down their fight proposals—doing so once again with Nickal.
“Listen, it’s entitled bozos like this that just kill the sport of wrestling,” Covington said. “We need stars. We need people that are willing to be vocal and call their shots.”
“Oh, that’d be too easy, bro,” Covington said in response to Nickal’s two-fight offer. “You’re a bum. Come on, dude.”
“You got broken by a Dutch kickboxer, man. Come on. Come on, you’re a bum, dude. You’ve never been a main event.”
“We’re talking about big money up here, not nobodies. We’re talking about Luke Rockhold, first ballot Hall of Famer, not some unproven kid in the corner that’s never done anything.”
Related: Colby Covington: ‘I spoke with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago about fighting at the White House’
Amid Colby Covington and Bo Nickal’s verbal warfare, Luke Rockhold jumped in to defend his RAF 5 opponent.
Rockhold insisted Nickal hadn’t done enough in the sport of MMA to call out a fighter of Covington’s caliber.
“You should make the top ten before you start talking about a sport that built another sport,” Rockhold said to Nickal. “The reason our wrestling here is on this stage is because of MMA.”
“You’ve done absolutely nothing in the sport of MMA. You quit before the knee even hit you, Bo. So just button it up. Button it up.”
Despite earning the biggest win of his career over Rodolfo Vieira last time out, Bo Nickal is still being faulted for the first and only loss of his MMA career to Reinier de Ridder.
Rockhold silenced Nickal, claiming the only credentials he has in combat sports came in college.
“How many world championships have I won?” Rockhold continued. “What have you done on a world stage? Absolutely nothing.”
“You’re a college bum. Shut up.”
Colby Covington & Luke Rockhold bullying that Penn State bum Bo Nickal is absolutely hilariousThis guy has been spoiled his entire life he doesn’t know what to do when somebody talks back to him pic.twitter.com/ZJ02h3Fcbf
— MMA Joey (@MMAJOEYC) January 9, 2026
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