The Tucker Carlson Show - Colby Covington

00:00:00.000 Colby Covington has been a professional MMA fighter for 14 years. He's been the last 11

00:00:15.940 in the UFC. And in that time, he's become one of the most famous people in his sport worldwide.

00:00:22.220 So how should you feel about Colby Covington? Well, if you can judge a man by his enemies,

00:00:27.680 and you can watch Rosie O'Donnell. Trump just arrived at the UFC 296 because he loves Colby

00:00:37.260 Covington. And Leon Edwards, I hope, is going to smash his face in because I can't stand Colby

00:00:43.020 Covington and I can't stand Donald Trump. And the one thing I hate about the UFC is that he ruins it 0.98

00:00:48.780 every time he shows up. I mean, come on, Dana White. You got to do better. Really?

00:00:55.220 Really? Really?

00:00:59.420 The question is, would Rosie O'Donnell kill Colby Covington if she had the chance? The answer 0.99

00:01:04.220 is, of course, yes. And she would do the same to you. We thought it'd be interesting to talk

00:01:08.960 to Colby Covington about that and other things. He joins us now. Colby, thanks a lot for coming

00:01:12.440 on. It's an honor to have you here. It's a real honor for me to be here. Thank you.

00:01:15.740 So why do you think Rosie O'Donnell, you've never fought Rosie O'Donnell, right?

00:01:20.540 Nah, I would never fight a woman. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. I mean, it's not 1.00

00:01:25.260 obvious now. When they're pretending to be men, a lot of people think it's okay to beat

00:01:28.040 them up. It's not. But why do you think she's so mad at you, since I assume you don't know 0.82

00:01:33.820 her or hang out with her? Yeah, no. You know, every time I see, you know, Rosie getting unhinged,

00:01:39.520 I think that's a sign that we're getting closer to taking back America. You know, she's a crazy, 1.00

00:01:44.740 mean, old, vile, old lady. But, you know, I'm not sure what I ever did to offend her. So I'd 0.99

00:01:49.520 gladly do it again. But we need to send her to the loony bin in 2024. 0.99

00:01:56.020 A crazy, mean, old, I think that's fair. I don't, you know, I don't think that's an 0.96

00:02:00.020 insult. I think it's just purely descriptive. So you have decided to just be very open about

00:02:06.160 your political views and mix them with your profession, which is fighting at UFC. Was

00:02:12.120 that a tough decision for you? No, it wasn't a tough decision because I wanted to stand by

00:02:16.800 what I believe in. And, you know, all the principles that I was founded upon through my

00:02:21.120 whole life. So once I saw the narrative was being shoved down our throat as professional

00:02:25.700 athletes one way and there wasn't another side, I was sick of that. And I was like, you

00:02:30.040 know what, there needs to be someone that stands up for the other side and stands up for what

00:02:34.160 they believe in. And, you know, I wanted to be that guy.

00:02:36.520 So there's been a lot of talk about why the UFC is the only sport, professional sport in

00:02:41.700 the United States where the participants are allowed to say what they think. And a lot of

00:02:45.740 that I think has to do with Dana White has just said we're allowing free speech and God

00:02:48.640 bless him for that. But it does seem like a big percentage of guys who fight at UFC are

00:02:55.440 on your side politically. Why do you think that is?

00:02:58.900 You know, I think they think that because they grew up in, you know, this constitutional,

00:03:02.720 you know, great country of America, you know, land of the free home of the brave. And I think

00:03:07.540 they've seen, you know, just the toxicity that this woke agenda has caused people. You

00:03:14.220 know, I mean, a lot of us are shadow banned on some of the some of the platforms. I'm

00:03:18.460 not going to speak their name because they don't deserve that attention. But, you know, when

00:03:21.640 you start taking away free sprites, that's a dangerous proposition. Yeah, there's no going

00:03:25.640 back from that. So I think people just want to stand up for what they believe in. And, you

00:03:30.280 know, the rights that this country was founded upon.

00:03:32.720 That seems pretty basic and moderate and sensible to me.

00:03:37.140 Yeah, for the most part, but not to the swamp establishment and the lobbyists and politicians.

00:03:44.380 Why don't other sports do the same?

00:03:46.960 Because they're paid. They're paid and bought for by China. You know, you've got people like 0.99

00:03:50.760 LeBron James who, you know, he makes all his money in his shoe deals in China with these

00:03:55.060 women that are working for, you know, pennies on the dollar in these sweatshops. And that's 1.00

00:03:59.380 how he makes all his money, you know. And then you got Travis Kelsey, who's Mr.

00:04:03.000 Pfizer, who's, you know, telling people he's he's paid and bought for by Satan himself.

00:04:07.620 Pretty much. He sold his soul to the devil. And, you know, he's telling people get the

00:04:10.880 double jab, you know. Oh, you know, if you get one jab, I'm not saying I'm for or against

00:04:15.180 vaccines. But if you get one jab, shouldn't you make sure that it's safe? And like there's

00:04:19.260 not going to be any side effects from that one. If you're getting two at the same time,

00:04:22.460 how are you going to know which one's giving you side effects? So some of the most just

00:04:26.400 atrocious, you know, things that I've ever heard someone say.

00:04:31.200 So I was told by a number of people that criticizing LeBron James is racist, but you did it anyway.

00:04:37.820 Yeah. You know, he hates America, the country that gave him billions of dollars. You know,

00:04:43.240 he never stands up for America. He sits down during the national anthem. You know, they they're

00:04:47.160 playing it for the people that fought and to protect this country and give us our freedom

00:04:51.780 so we can have opportunities like LeBron. And here he is sitting for it, making a joke out

00:04:56.100 of our national anthem and all the families out there that have to have suffering because they

00:05:00.520 lost, you know, some of their family members in war. And here he is just making a mockery of them

00:05:05.220 and just slapping them in the face. Do you think if he wasn't getting paid, he would do that? I mean,

00:05:10.720 do you think these are his real views or he's just acting on behalf of someone else?

00:05:15.720 You can tell he's acting on behalf of someone else and he's bought and paid for by the establishment

00:05:20.400 and pretty much whatever they tell him to do. He's just going to do that. He's a puppet to them.

00:05:25.360 So at some point, I don't know when it was less than 10 years ago, somebody clearly decided, hey,

00:05:30.720 NBA is really culturally influential and we need to make sure that our message is delivered by the

00:05:36.000 players at NBA. I mean, it's really obvious that that happened. Yeah. UFC is on its way to eclipsing

00:05:41.740 the NBA. I mean, I don't remember in the last year anyone talking about the NBA. Everyone's talking

00:05:46.820 about the sport that you're in. Will that happen to you guys at some point, do you think?

00:05:51.780 No, I don't think so because, you know, our leaders, Dana White and Hunter Campbell,

00:05:56.260 you know, they're believers in free speech and they don't put a muscle on anybody. They tell

00:05:59.960 everybody to think and stand on what you believe in and we're not going to tell you how to think

00:06:04.820 or act. You can do that on your own. But, you know, they went from being on the brink of not having

00:06:10.180 a company to now they're a multi-billion publicly traded company. So I don't think they're ever going to do

00:06:15.540 that. You know, they believe in free speech. They believe in constitutional rights and, you know,

00:06:21.000 everything that America stands for. I was kind of surprised to learn that you've been doing this

00:06:26.520 14 years. That seems like a long time to be in a business this rough. Did you ever, do you expect

00:06:32.760 to be in it that long? And how did you do that? Yeah, no, I didn't expect to be in it that long.

00:06:37.460 I wanted to get in and get out, you know, make a good living for myself, change, you know,

00:06:41.520 the structure that my family grew up in. We came from a blue collar family in Oregon. And,

00:06:45.600 you know, I wanted to be able to break that trend and that mold and be able to become a

00:06:49.760 multi-million dollar famous athlete. I didn't care so much about the fame, but I just wanted

00:06:53.600 the financial aspect, the freedoms from it so I could live a good life. So I didn't expect it to

00:06:58.840 be this long, but I'm loving every second of it. Are you really? I still love it. I enjoy it,

00:07:02.740 man. I enjoy all the hate, all the people that tell me that, you know, I can't do something or,

00:07:06.840 oh, you can't do this. Oh, you're going to get knocked out. We're going to do this to you. So

00:07:10.500 I enjoy that. That's what drives me. It gets me up early in the morning to work harder.

00:07:15.400 What's, what's your life like day to day? What's your training regimen like?

00:07:19.220 So I train six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and then I'll train twice a day,

00:07:23.560 three days out of the week, out of the six days. So do two a days, three days a week,

00:07:27.600 and six days, just one a days. How long is your training?

00:07:31.160 Three hours per training session. What does that consist of?

00:07:35.060 It consists of all the martial arts. I'll do kickboxing with one martial art,

00:07:39.680 and then I'll do jujitsu because you have to practice submissions. And then I'll do some

00:07:43.040 wrestling, and then I'll do strength and conditioning to make sure my conditioning is in peep form.

00:07:47.940 How long have you been doing that?

00:07:50.020 For 14 years. Ever since I got out of college, I went straight into MMA, and I wanted to make a

00:07:55.400 better life for myself. So this was the only professional sport. Wrestling, it's like you can

00:07:59.320 go to the Olympics and try and be an Olympic athlete, but those people make about the same

00:08:03.600 amount of money as the person that's flipping burgers outside here.

00:08:06.420 For real.

00:08:07.280 So I wanted to be a professional athlete and be able to really change my financial future.

00:08:12.780 Six days a week for 14 years.

00:08:15.320 Yeah.

00:08:16.120 Do you like it? That part of it?

00:08:18.240 I love it. I think that's my purpose. I feel like that's why God put me on this earth,

00:08:22.560 to chase my dreams and work hard and push my body and my mind to the limit. Not just my body,

00:08:28.660 but it's also a mental thing, and I feel like fighting is a lot of mental. The thoughts that

00:08:34.440 you put in your head are really, you can manifest a lot of things in this sport, but you can also

00:08:39.060 bring yourself down. If you're thinking negative thoughts, you're probably not going to have

00:08:43.340 positive results.

00:08:45.040 So what are the things that you do to keep yourself strong inside, to keep yourself fearless?

00:08:49.720 Um, you know, I just, I think about, you know, the people that are the real heroes and celebrities

00:08:56.480 of this country, people like law enforcement, people in military. And I think about what their

00:09:00.800 day-to-day lives are there. There's no holidays for war. You know, these people are serving these

00:09:05.620 politicians and fighting these politicians wars overseas, but they don't get a, they don't get

00:09:10.260 like a Christmas holiday for war. No, they have to go over there and protect these people and

00:09:14.120 protect our country and keep us free and safe here. So I think about their life and their lifestyle.

00:09:19.360 And I'm, you know, I have a lot of friends in military, you know, my buddy, Steven Hodson,

00:09:23.200 who was a first, uh, Sergeant in for the army Rangers. And he's with the, the, the skydiving

00:09:28.640 team right now. And I just think about like what he's had to go through in Afghanistan and Iraq and

00:09:32.900 all these different, uh, wars that he's been in. And that's what makes me think about my life's easy,

00:09:37.480 man. I get to do something I love every day. This is my passion to get up and train every single day.

00:09:41.640 So how could I ever complain about my passion? Something I love when I have someone who's fighting

00:09:46.300 for our country. And, you know, he, all he knows is he's standing for the red, white,

00:09:49.820 and blue and our country's flags and colors. But he, you know, he's fighting these politicians

00:09:54.140 senseless wars and, and, but he's doing it, you know, he's, he's raising his hand saying,

00:09:59.420 I want to do it because I love my country.

00:10:01.340 That's amazing. I mean, the difference, one of the differences though, between what you do and

00:10:06.040 what he does is when you step into the ring, you know, for dead certain, there's going to be

00:10:09.180 violence aimed at you.

00:10:10.580 Yep.

00:10:10.800 And pretty real violence. Anyone who's watched it knows it's not, it's not a joke. It's not

00:10:15.060 professional wrestling. Yeah. You can get really, really hurt or killed actually. So how do you

00:10:19.760 keep the fear at bay? Um, you know, I always told myself growing up, there's only one man or one

00:10:25.900 thing that I'm ever going to fear and that's God. So, you know, I, I, I feel like God has a plan for

00:10:30.820 me and he put me here for a reason to, to have a platform and to be able to give it back to the

00:10:35.060 people that deserve it most, such as first responders, military, and, you know, our, our troops that

00:10:40.400 protect us every single day. So, you know, I just, I, I, I don't think about the, what could

00:10:46.360 happen, like the bad side of it. I think about how I could change my life and, and what good I

00:10:50.600 could do with it. Cause you know, I don't just want to get, get, get, I want to be able to give

00:10:54.460 and, and, you know, I'm starting up a nonprofit, you know, to benefit first responders and military

00:10:59.200 and, and to be able to give back to those people is like more important to me than, than how I feel

00:11:04.900 or my selfish, you know, fears in life.

00:11:06.820 Do you ever get challenged in bars or restaurants with people who think they can take you?

00:11:12.840 No, I've never had that happen, but I also don't ever go to bars or drink alcohol.

00:11:18.060 Oh, you don't drink it. Does anyone in MMA drink?

00:11:20.700 There's a lot of fighters. Yeah, they drink a lot and they're big partiers, but not me. You know,

00:11:25.060 I, I like to live, you know, clean, healthy lifestyle. You know, I'm committed to my craft 24,

00:11:29.880 seven, 365. I'm not a part-time fighter who Dana calls me. He's like, all right, Colby,

00:11:33.920 you're going to fight in two months. All right, well, I got to get in shape now. No, I'm one of

00:11:37.560 those guys that prides myself on being ready at any time, anywhere and against anyone. So if they

00:11:42.460 call me tomorrow and they're like, Hey, you know, you're going to fight next week. I'm ready to fight

00:11:45.960 next week. And that's how I live my life. Does that happen or you get called up last minute?

00:11:50.200 Yeah. Oh yeah. I've taken a couple of short notice fights where I had to take it on a week or two's

00:11:53.680 notice. And, you know, if I didn't take those, you know, I wouldn't be in favor with the UFC and I

00:11:57.920 wouldn't be a guy that they can depend on, but it's one of my greatest, you know, assets to be

00:12:02.740 able to be ready to fight for them at any time and do good business for the UFC. How much time do you

00:12:09.280 spend with the other fighters? Zero. Really? Yeah. Why? Just because, you know, I'm more than just a

00:12:15.960 fighter. You know, I love fighting and that's one part of my life, but, you know, I try and have

00:12:20.140 separation from it and disconnect and also be just a human and a normal person. And, you know, I don't

00:12:26.680 want to surround myself and all my life just be all about fighting every day. You know, I need to

00:12:30.900 have some separation and just a different, different lifestyle than that. Hmm. What do you

00:12:37.180 think is going to happen with Trump in this election? You know, I think he's going to win

00:12:41.600 by a landslide if it's a fair election, but we know that they're going to do everything they can

00:12:46.360 to rig this election in any way. You know, they did the fake COVID and all the mail-in voting

00:12:51.340 last time. Which string are they going to pull next? Are they going to try and do some martial

00:12:55.360 law type stuff in America? I don't know. We know it's not going to be a fair election, but,

00:13:00.280 you know, Trump's the strongest fighter I've ever met and the most loyal person. You know,

00:13:04.960 what president went into office and their net worth went down after being in office? He's the

00:13:09.480 only one ever. Everybody else, you know, they sold out to the lobbyists and the politicians. So

00:13:13.360 his hard work for America is incredible. I mean, he was in Iowa one day. He was in New Hampshire the

00:13:19.400 next day. He came to watch my fight. And then he was in Reno the following day. I mean,

00:13:23.520 who's working harder for this country than him? That's how much he loves his country. It's not

00:13:27.920 about him or what he's doing to advance him or his family's name. No, he's doing this for our

00:13:33.960 country because he loves our country and he wants to put America first again.

00:13:37.540 Do you talk to him?

00:13:38.800 Yeah, I talk to him pretty often.

00:13:41.600 What does he say?

00:13:42.920 You know, he just tells me how much he admires my wrestling abilities because he used to wrestle.

00:13:47.320 So I remember, you know, he was making funny jokes about himself when I went to the White 0.95

00:13:51.520 House to visit. And he's like, Colby, you know what I love about you is that you're a

00:13:55.360 wrestler. I used to wrestle, but I was the wrestler that was counting lights in the gym.

00:13:59.880 So he was pretty much making a joke about himself that he was getting pinned. I was like, man,

00:14:03.520 that's that's very humbling for you to say something like that. One of the most powerful

00:14:07.420 people of all time and the most famous person alive right now. And you're making jokes about

00:14:11.660 yourself. So it just shows the type of person he is. He's just the guy next door that is just a

00:14:17.200 super humble and respectful guy that loves his country and will do anything for it.

00:14:21.400 You said he was tough.

00:14:24.060 Very tough.

00:14:25.320 Explain why do you say that?

00:14:27.360 Just, you know, he's the only president who, you know, he had fear in everybody else.

00:14:32.920 You know, we didn't have any new wars. There was he had peace in the Middle East.

00:14:36.700 I mean, he had Putin shaking his boots. Putin didn't want to lose everything he has in Russia,

00:14:41.280 all the stuff he works for. But it's because he knew President Trump was a tough guy and he

00:14:44.920 didn't mess around. Like if you made any threats in the media or said anything, he would make sure

00:14:49.980 that you're never going to say that again. So, you know, he's a tough guy. He wrestled

00:14:54.220 just the way he made it in this country. He made it through capitalism, through hard work with his

00:15:00.240 bare hands. You know, the American dream, he achieved that just because he had a vision and

00:15:04.300 he put it into action. So not a lot of people can say that most people are bought or paid for.

00:15:09.880 You got a Nazi Pelosi who's using insider trading to get rich. It's sick. There's a lot of treasonous 0.96

00:15:15.700 people in this country, but Donald Trump is not one of those. 0.58

00:15:19.180 There are a lot of treasonous people in this country.

00:15:22.320 Do you worry about getting hurt?

00:15:25.300 In fighting?

00:15:25.920 Yeah.

00:15:26.580 No, I don't worry about it. You know, I put that in the back of my brain. I've gotten hurt many times

00:15:31.600 and I always fight through it every time. So I know I can get through any situation. Doesn't matter

00:15:36.440 if I'm hurt, injured, sick or not, I'm going to keep fighting. And I do it for the love

00:15:40.820 of my country and the love of wanting to have a platform so I can give it back to the people

00:15:45.140 that I love the most.

00:15:48.280 Clearly, fighters try to psych each other out before the fight in public, I notice.

00:15:53.300 Yeah.

00:15:53.620 What's the, without, you know, giving away your trade secrets, what's the purpose of that,

00:15:58.720 the process, and does it work?

00:15:59.900 Yeah, it absolutely works. And the process is just to try and get in the psychological

00:16:06.440 part of someone's mind and alter them, make them fight with emotions. Because when you

00:16:11.180 fight with emotions, you're not going to fight the same as if you're in a free state where

00:16:15.140 you can just not think and you can just, you know, do it off of intuition. But if you can

00:16:20.300 get in someone's head and make them super mad where they're just going to abandon their

00:16:23.840 game plan, they just want to, they just want to hurt you. They want to knock you out. 0.67

00:16:26.980 Then you're an advantage. But also there's a huge aspect to it too, because it sells pay-per-views

00:16:33.400 and it creates engagement because it makes it so people aren't going to be down the middle.

00:16:37.960 They're either going to hate you or they're going to love you. But that's what you want

00:16:41.020 because even the haters, they're not going to turn the TV to watch Real Housewives of

00:16:45.740 Miami. No, they're going to keep it on UFC because they want to see you lose. But then

00:16:49.320 people that respect you and like you, they're going to keep watching because they want to see

00:16:53.080 you win and they want to see you keep rising. So there's a very important aspect to selling

00:16:59.380 fights and being able to promote yourself.

00:17:02.500 Do people take it personally? You've been pretty tough on some of your opponents, right?

00:17:06.660 Yeah. Yeah. People take it personally. They don't realize like, but it's funny because all

00:17:13.180 the people have taken it personal in the past during the time after their checks cleared their

00:17:18.600 banks, they realize, hey man, I actually appreciate everything you did, Colby. You made me a lot

00:17:24.000 more money otherwise if you would have just been quiet and acted like a mute. But the fact

00:17:29.040 that you were vocal and you made it more animosity-filled for the fight, that made me more money in

00:17:35.480 the long run. So thank you, Colby.

00:17:39.020 For attacking me. So what have been the most effective attacks? Give me an example.

00:17:43.760 You're up against somebody next week. What would you say about them?

00:17:47.440 I would just say, you know, you're a soy boy and, you know, there is one guy that he's 1.00

00:17:54.140 a legitimate cuck and, you know, I've called him out for that. 0.53

00:17:57.680 Can you explain what that means to our audience about that now?

00:18:00.880 Yeah. So a cuck is just someone that, you know, sits in the room and they watch their spouse

00:18:05.720 get sexual arousal from someone else. So, you know, there's people like that out there and, 0.99

00:18:12.460 you know, the truth is what always hurts the most.

00:18:16.120 And so you found out that this had happened.

00:18:19.060 I had found out that this had happened. The girl was selling a book called 0.86

00:18:22.700 WAG, which means wife and girlfriend. So she was like promoting that, you know,

00:18:28.360 she had a boyfriend and she had a husband.

00:18:31.700 That didn't used to be allowed.

00:18:34.440 It shouldn't be allowed. It's pretty nasty behavior.

00:18:38.380 I'd say. So what did you say about it?

00:18:41.320 I just said the truth. You know, I said, it's disgusting. You know, you're a cuck and, 0.94

00:18:46.100 you know, your wife is a vile lady. You know, she's selling books, promoting being a WAG, 1.00

00:18:51.720 you know, and being a wife and a girlfriend. And I'm not going to let the world not notice

00:18:56.980 that. I'm going to bring it to the forefront and I'm going to make sure everybody's talking

00:19:00.100 about it and making a joke to you. 0.94

00:19:02.120 Was he pretty excited that you pointed out he's a cuck? 0.65

00:19:05.720 Not excited. He's pretty, he was pretty angry. 0.53

00:19:08.760 He was.

00:19:09.360 Yeah. I think he probably wants to settle the differences in the octagon and

00:19:12.600 it just so happens I like to fight in the octagon. So if it needs to happen one day,

00:19:17.300 I'd be honored to settle that.

00:19:19.980 Oh, so this is not even someone you're scheduled to fight.

00:19:22.640 No, it's not even someone I'm scheduled to fight. It's just someone that's been talking smack in the

00:19:25.980 media, been throwing, you know, some terms around at me and, you know, never done anything or

00:19:30.620 accomplished half of what I've accomplished in this sport. So, you know, I had to give it back

00:19:34.860 to him a little bit and just say the truth.

00:19:36.600 Did it shut him up?

00:19:38.100 It did shut him up, but I have a strong feeling that he'll have something else to say very soon.

00:19:44.180 When that kind of thing happens and it happens in public, does he like text you behind the scenes?

00:19:50.180 No, he doesn't have my number, but I'm sure he's probably trying to figure out like my location

00:19:55.240 or where I'm going to be and he'll probably try and drop me walking out of a poppy stake or something

00:19:59.380 like someone else did in one of my prior fights.

00:20:02.080 Did he jump you?

00:20:03.240 Yeah, because he couldn't take the truth. He couldn't handle the truth that I, you know,

00:20:07.300 that's the extent that I took it to.

00:20:09.020 Wait, wait, slow down. So you, what did you say about this other person?

00:20:13.300 I just said he was a deadbeat dad because he wasn't paying his child support.

00:20:19.020 And he was?

00:20:20.120 Yeah, and he was. Wasn't paying child support. Stopped, cut off his communications with his kids.

00:20:25.220 And, you know, then, you know, he didn't like that. He didn't like that I said the truth about him.

00:20:30.660 So, you know, he had to sucker punch me in the back of the head when I walked out of a restaurant.

00:20:35.860 That's unbelievable. Where?

00:20:37.780 Yeah, in Miami Beach at Poppy's Steakhouse.

00:20:40.620 At Poppy's, of all places.

00:20:42.720 So what happened next? Did he drop you?

00:20:45.320 It concussed me pretty bad. And I was like, I was able to get inside and call the cops.

00:20:50.580 And, you know, then he had to deal with the justice system after that.

00:20:54.960 Whatever happened to him?

00:20:56.760 He ended up getting an assault charge.

00:21:00.200 And he had to plead guilty to it.

00:21:02.280 You know, he had to go to jail for the night.

00:21:05.060 And he'd probably have to pay some fines, I would assume.

00:21:08.140 Have you seen him since?

00:21:09.520 No, I haven't seen him since.

00:21:10.560 So you never even saw him coming? You're just walking out of the restaurant?

00:21:13.060 No. Somehow he was able to identify where I was.

00:21:16.040 I was hanging out with my friends, the no boys.

00:21:17.700 And I don't know what happened, but we were walking outside.

00:21:21.480 And he was able to stalk me.

00:21:23.240 And he waited in the bushes with, like, a bunch of friends in a ski mask.

00:21:26.580 What?

00:21:27.400 Yeah.

00:21:28.460 And we walked outside.

00:21:29.680 And we were going to go to another spot to have dinner.

00:21:33.680 And next thing I know, boom, in the back of the head.

00:21:36.760 Boom, in the front of the face. 0.99

00:21:38.040 Knocked my tooth out.

00:21:39.040 And then...

00:21:39.520 He knocked your tooth out?

00:21:40.760 Yeah.

00:21:42.240 So he couldn't beat me legally.

00:21:44.620 I beat him up for 25 minutes straight in the UFC octagon.

00:21:47.540 So, of course, he had to do it illegally when I wasn't looking.

00:21:50.220 Because if he looked me in the eyes like a man, he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything to me. 0.69

00:21:54.000 But the only way he could do something is if he cheap-shotted me and stalked me like the criminal that he is.

00:21:59.420 Well, you got into his head, that's for sure.

00:22:01.600 Yeah.

00:22:02.740 Have you seen him since?

00:22:04.020 No, I haven't seen him since.

00:22:06.840 You know, probably a good thing.

00:22:09.220 Do you think you'd ever fight him again?

00:22:10.480 Um, I don't think the UFC would sanction that because they just saw how easily I beat him the first time.

00:22:16.140 Like, I beat him every round convincingly.

00:22:18.480 Knocked him down. 0.52

00:22:19.740 Dragged him out.

00:22:20.540 It was a 50-43 and a soda is what I gave him.

00:22:23.900 And so I don't think the UFC would give me an easy matchup like that ever again.

00:22:27.620 UFC likes to make prestigious and high-level fights.

00:22:30.340 They wouldn't want to give me some amateur that's not on my level, you know.

00:22:34.020 That's absolutely crazy that he did that.

00:22:37.260 And you were friends with this guy before, right?

00:22:39.400 Yeah, we were best friends for eight years.

00:22:42.240 We lived together for three years.

00:22:44.520 Best, best friends.

00:22:45.760 But that's the, you know, that's what this sport does to people.

00:22:49.660 Like, people will sell out their friends for money.

00:22:52.360 All he wanted was fame and money.

00:22:53.840 So as soon as I started reaching up and getting high in this sport, that's when he took it personal

00:22:58.660 and his ego kicked in.

00:22:59.760 He was like, hey, man, like, we can't be friends.

00:23:02.040 I want money more than I want to be friends with you.

00:23:05.120 Jumping a man outside poppies is not kind of the road to success, though, is it? 0.56

00:23:09.400 No, it's not.

00:23:11.240 You know, but it's on brand for him.

00:23:12.880 You know, he's stolen cars in the past, and he's had multiple felony charges.

00:23:17.220 So, you know, it's on brand for the type of person that he is.

00:23:21.240 Are most of the guys who are in the octagon from pretty rough backgrounds?

00:23:23.960 Yeah, a lot of them, there's a lot of misfits, you know, a lot of people that didn't do good

00:23:29.900 in school or just, you know, have rough backgrounds, fought in, you know, unsanctioned fights.

00:23:35.640 That's usually what brings out fighters.

00:23:37.520 You don't see a lot of deep intellect, smart fighters out there, you know, that graduated

00:23:42.020 college and have, you know, these crazy degrees.

00:23:44.720 So most fighters are just troubled kids who just want to get locked in a cage and hurt someone.

00:23:49.380 That's all they know how to do.

00:23:50.440 So, yeah.

00:23:51.200 Did you fight a lot as a kid?

00:23:53.080 I did, because I got bullied a lot.

00:23:54.780 I was, like, a smaller kid, and I wrestled, so everybody always was like, oh, that's the

00:23:58.620 wrestler, and I was smaller, so they wanted to pick on me and call me out in fights, and

00:24:02.220 they're like, let's fight in the park.

00:24:04.180 And then I remember I got in one fight in the park, and I came home, and my mom's like,

00:24:08.400 you're never fighting again, Colby.

00:24:09.940 If you want to fight, go to the UFC and make money to fight.

00:24:12.640 And that's when, like, the bell rung in my head, and I was like, oh, you're right, Mom,

00:24:16.540 I should just go make this a living and start fighting for...

00:24:20.560 But your mom got you into the UFC?

00:24:22.960 She's the one that, yeah, led me down that path.

00:24:25.840 Does she watch your fights? 0.91

00:24:27.180 She does, yeah.

00:24:28.280 Is she a fan?

00:24:29.380 She's a fan, yeah.

00:24:30.240 She likes the...

00:24:31.780 She loves the overall of the sport, just the adrenaline that it causes and just the atmosphere

00:24:37.520 that it creates.

00:24:38.220 Is it hard to have a personal life if you're doing this for a living?

00:24:43.780 It is if you want to be successful and be great, because, you know, most people, they

00:24:48.500 want to...

00:24:49.320 They don't understand the commitment that it takes to be a fighter, you know, the diet,

00:24:52.560 the healthy lifestyle, the sacrifices, you know, I can't go out and go drinking with

00:24:56.320 you one night or on a weekend, you know, have drinks at dinner, and that's not realistic

00:25:01.020 for a fighter, you know, I have to eat clean, I have to make sacrifices, I have to go to

00:25:05.000 bed on time, wake up early to go train, so.

00:25:08.640 Most people wouldn't want to hang out with fighters, because it's kind of a boring lifestyle.

00:25:11.980 Yeah.

00:25:13.040 What do you eat?

00:25:14.480 So I'm on, like, a healthy, organic diet.

00:25:16.740 I try and eat only earth-grown foods, you know, meats, you know, vegetables.

00:25:22.540 You know, I kind of take a lot of my diet from the food pyramid that I learned when I

00:25:26.540 was a kid, and I've just learned over time what works for me.

00:25:29.940 Obviously, what works for me is going to be different than what works for you, but, you

00:25:34.340 know, I think eating healthy, getting at least a gallon of water a day, you know, your body's

00:25:38.380 made up of, what, 60, 70 percent water.

00:25:40.720 Your brain's, like, something like that, 40, 50 percent water.

00:25:43.600 So it's important to get high water intake and, you know, just have that healthy diet

00:25:48.600 consistently.

00:25:49.320 How much pizza do you eat?

00:25:51.740 I don't eat pizza.

00:25:53.580 Ice cream?

00:25:54.900 No ice cream.

00:25:55.780 Cookies?

00:25:57.120 Once, maybe every six months.

00:25:59.300 Wow.

00:26:00.220 Yeah.

00:26:01.160 I'm dedicated.

00:26:02.060 I'm committed to wanting to be the best fighter in the world and doing whatever it takes to

00:26:06.940 get that.

00:26:07.960 How do you cut the weight and describe what that process is?

00:26:11.980 Yeah.

00:26:12.240 So the weight cutting thing is pretty much, it's like a sponge effect.

00:26:15.480 Like, you know how a sponge, you squeeze it and all the water comes out?

00:26:18.880 Yeah.

00:26:19.320 That's kind of like what the diet is because you take out all the salts in your diet.

00:26:23.260 So pretty much in the morning, I'll have eggs, lunch, I'll have chicken, night, I'll

00:26:27.420 have fish, all lean meats, but completely plain.

00:26:30.440 No salt, no seasoning on them.

00:26:33.000 So you're eating these while you're drinking your water.

00:26:35.400 No other sugar, no caffeine, nothing else.

00:26:39.540 And when you go to run and cut weight, then the water just falls right through you because

00:26:43.760 you don't have any salt in your body.

00:26:45.260 Nothing to hold it in, yeah.

00:26:46.140 Yeah, to retain the water.

00:26:47.500 So it's pretty much just a low carb, high protein, and high water intake diet and no

00:26:54.400 salt, sodium, sugar, anything else.

00:26:56.380 And, you know, eventually it comes off.

00:26:58.000 And then you have to fast like the last like 36 hours before weigh-ins.

00:27:01.100 You just don't eat at all or drink.

00:27:02.260 Fast?

00:27:03.280 Yeah.

00:27:03.720 While working out?

00:27:04.780 While working out.

00:27:05.540 What's that like?

00:27:06.640 That's tough.

00:27:07.200 That's the hardest part of the week.

00:27:09.540 It's not the fight that I'm worried about.

00:27:11.920 I'm just worried about the weight cut and how I'll feel after.

00:27:14.840 So like how much weight you dropped in the last week?

00:27:17.880 For me, only like 10, 15 pounds.

00:27:20.460 It's not a lot, but...

00:27:21.460 15 pounds in a week?

00:27:22.620 That's a lot by normal standards.

00:27:24.140 Yeah, by normal standards.

00:27:25.900 But for most fighters, it's about 30 pounds.

00:27:28.820 30 pounds in a week?

00:27:30.180 Yeah, in a week.

00:27:30.960 How do you do that?

00:27:32.620 Most of them, they're not eating.

00:27:34.220 They're not drinking.

00:27:34.960 They'll maybe have one meal a day, and then they're doing the same thing where they're

00:27:38.680 not putting any salt in their body for the week, and no sugar, and just high water intake,

00:27:43.600 and pretty much just starving themselves.

00:27:46.180 So then you've got weigh-in, and then how long after that is the fight?

00:27:49.560 So you get the weigh-ins.

00:27:50.540 It's the morning, the day before the fight.

00:27:52.400 So you get about 36 hours to rehydrate and replenish your body before you'll fight the

00:27:57.320 next night.

00:27:58.780 So what does that look like?

00:28:00.020 Are you just guzzling water and eating salt?

00:28:03.100 Pretty much, yeah.

00:28:03.940 Guzzling water, eating salt, eating a lot of carbs because you've been depriving your body

00:28:08.400 of carbohydrates for a couple weeks because you're high-protein, low-carbs.

00:28:12.000 Yeah.

00:28:12.300 So a lot of pancakes, a lot of pastas, and yeah, just a lot of different electrolyte drinks

00:28:18.020 to replenish yourself of all that water that you drain your body of.

00:28:22.400 That's absolutely crazy.

00:28:24.720 Yeah.

00:28:25.340 How long do you foresee continuing?

00:28:28.760 In this sport?

00:28:29.740 Yeah.

00:28:30.160 A couple more years for sure.

00:28:31.720 Who's the oldest UFC fighter?

00:28:33.700 The oldest UFC fighter?

00:28:36.240 Daniel Cormier was 41 years old, and he was a UFC champion at 41.

00:28:40.760 So I'm 35.

00:28:41.940 I'm still six years away from that.

00:28:44.020 So, you know, I still got a lot of good years ahead of me, and I feel in my prime right

00:28:48.940 now physically and mentally, more importantly.

00:28:50.760 So I feel great.

00:28:52.440 I know I can keep going, but I also realize that I'm more than a fighter, and I have more

00:28:56.860 ambitions in life than just fighting in a cage.

00:28:59.380 So, you know, I want to be the change that I always talked about as a kid in this country.

00:29:05.040 Being a fighter's pretty good, though.

00:29:06.760 Yeah.

00:29:07.220 It has this benefit.

00:29:07.960 I think that's an achievement.

00:29:10.180 Colby Covington, thank you very much for spending all this time with us.

00:29:13.040 Thank you so much, Tucker.

00:29:14.200 Good to see you.

00:29:14.540 Thank you.

The Tucker Carlson Show - December 28, 2023

Colby Covington

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