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Controversial UFC star Sean Strickland came out at Colby Covington for his cruel joke about Leon Edwards' late father.
Strickland himself has come under fire for unsavory comments and is known as one of the promotion's most divisive characters, but even for him, Covington's comment Thursday was about Edwards' father — who was shot and killed when “Rocky ' 13 was – beyond just the pale.
“Colby is a piece of shit,” he said at the season press conference. 'What it is, if you know Colby on a personal level, he screwed everyone up.
“Him making fun of Leon's dad is the biggest damn move you could ever make.
“And I take it as a personal insult to me, you guys, the Trump says they're Republicans, you're my damn people, the workers, you're my damn people. people.
Sean Strickland went on a rampage and attacked Colby Covington for bringing up Leon Edwards' late father
Strickland spoke at the season press conference to preview next year's fights
Emotions ran high when Covington made a joke about Leon Edwards' father on Thursday
“Leon's mother, she raised a boy to be a damn man, to win a title and be a good man. And a true American would applaud that. So just so you know, Colby is a fake GP****.
“And if he was standing right here next to me, the only thing he would do would be calling 911 because he is the definition of af*****gb*****.”
On Thursday, Covington was roundly condemned after saying, “I'm taking you to the seventh layer of hell. “We'll tell your dad, 'What's going on' while we're there.”
Edwards' attitude quickly changed and he threw a water bottle at his rival, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap and dressed up like George Washington.
The bottle struck Covington, causing both fighters to immediately stand up to confront each other before security intervened to separate them.
Edwards' father was shot dead in a London nightclub when the MMA star was just 13. 'Rocky' has since said he believes the killer's motive was a dispute over money.
Covington dressed up for the UFC 296 press conference on Thursday afternoon
Edwards and Covington turned up the intensity during the ceremonial weigh-ins
Edwards was raised by his mother, who worked multiple jobs to support him in pursuing his MMA dreams.
Strickland took center stage at the UFC's season press conference, along with his opponent for January's middleweight title defense, Dricus du Plessis.
The American, despite his attack on Covington, used a homophobic slur against the South African and the pair became heated, with Du Plessis saying he would give the champion 'a worse beating than his father ever did'.
It seems like Covington's low bar has given fighters carte blanche to say just about anything they want.
When Edwards and Covington faced off for the last time before meeting, Edwards was still visibly furious with his opponent, telling Joe Rogan, “That man is as good as dead tomorrow. Make sure you keep everything you said about my father. We can arrange it tomorrow.'