"He don’t deserve a fair fight" - Former UFC title contender slams "piece of sh*t" Colby Covington over personal jibe about Leon Edwards' late father

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori has called out Colby Covington for his comments regarding Leon Edwards' late father.

Edwards and Covington are set to face off in the main event of UFC 296 this weekend. 'Rocky' heads into the fight looking to make his second successive title defence and stretch his undefeated run to 13 fights. For 'Chaos', he returns to the octagon for the first time since his victory over Jorge Masvidal in March 2022.

Ahead of their bout this Saturday, Edwards and Covington took part in the UFC 296 pre-fight presser, where things got heated between the two. The American lived up to his controversial reputation by taking a shot at Edwards' late father. Colby Covington said:

"I'm taking you to the seventh layer of hell. We'll say 'What's up' to your dad while we're there."

Leon Edwards was understandably upset by the crass comment and launched his microphone at his opponent before security had to separate the pair.

Former middleweight title contender Marvin Vettori took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn Covington's comments. 'The Italian Dream' labeled the welterweight a "piece of sh*t" and stated that he hopes somebody lands a shot on the back of his head. He tweeted:

"What a piece of sh*t. Thats why you gotta bottle the f*cker in the back of his head. He don't deserve a fair fight."

Watch the clip here:

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Fans react to Colby Covington's comments at UFC 296 press conference

Colby Covington is one of the most divisive fighters on the UFC roster, with fans often split down the middle on whether or not he's playing a character or is just a controversial person.

Whilst some may have been in the corner of 'Chaos' ahead of his fight against Leon Edwards, it appears as though many have seen his latest comments as a step too far.

After Covington took a shot at Edwards and his late father, fans took to social media and let their thoughts be known. One fan wrote:

"Just an absolute scumbag. Not even playing a character. Just pure scum."

Another fan said:

"WAY too far. There's playing a character and selling a PPV, but like Conor with Khabib, this crossed a line. If Leon takes this further after the bell on Sunday, it's really a matter of FAFO."

X user @legendaryenergy even stated that they were no longer rooting for a Colby Covington victory:

"I was rooting for him for America but idk anymore. Was a super low statement & doesn’t appeal to me to say crazy messed up stuff like that."

Check out more reactions here.