Colby Covington issues formal apology (but not really) to 'any filthy animal I offended'

If you haven’t noticed by now, Colby Covington isn’t about to bow to the reaction of the UFC brass, media or any fans to take back his negative comments about Brazilians following his victory over Demian Maia on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 119.

Following Covington’s (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) largely dominant unanimous decision win over Maia (25-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) in the FS1-televised welterweight bout at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, “Chaos” lived up to his nickname by calling Brazilians “filthy animals” and labeling the country “a dump.”

The response to Covington’s antics was fierce. He was showered with hateful comments and trash as he exited the octagon, and was held out of the UFC Fight Night 119 post-fight news conference in part because a UFC official voiced a displeasure in his actions.

Although there were hints disciplinary action could be coming, Covington told MMAjunkie he refused to walk back anything he said. Today, he issued a formal apology on social media, but it was far from the bland, cookie-cutter type of statement that might be expected in such a situation (via Twitter):

Covington, 29, is embracing his position as a hated character in MMA. He successfully got almost all of Brazil to call for his head, and also successfully agitated UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (18-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) with some bold claims on how he would dethrone the current divisional kingpin.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 119, check out the UFC Events section of the site.