"Who gives a F? You’re about to fight” - Leon Edwards showed ‘weakness’ by allowing Colby Covington’s comments to affect him, says Gordon Ryan

Leon Edwards is eager to inflict some serious damage on Colby Covington at UFC 296 following comments made by 'Chaos' about the champion's late father.

'Rocky' has been candid about his father's past as a gang leader and subsequent murder in London relating to his gang ties. Covington, known for pushing boundaries when it comes to his trash-talk, crossed the line in the eyes of many when he mentioned Edwards' dad during the pre-fight press conference.

He said this:

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

Watch the video below from 1:00:

But one man who has gone against the general consensus when it comes to Covington's remark about Leon Edwards' father is Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Gordon Ryan.

Ryan recently shared his thoughts on the incident on Instagram and believes that 'Rocky' should not allow the words of his opponent to affect him ahead of fight night. 'The King' wrote this:

"Coming from someone who has people talk about his dead dad all the time, who gives a F? You're about to fight each other lmao. Never let words get to you when you're in a professional context. All it does is show weakness."

Screenshot of Gordon Ryan's Instagram story

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Leon Edwards plans on using Colby Covington's words as motivation at UFC 296

Leon Edwards and Colby Covington will headline a stacked UFC 296 main card in the promotion's final event of the year.

While Covington is one of the biggest antagonists in the UFC, the build-up to this weekend's title fight had been relatively mild until the pre-fight press conference yesterday. 'Chaos' caused an uproar amongst fans after mentioning Edwards' late father during the event, which understandably caused an emotional reaction from the champion, who hurled a water bottle at his opponent.

Leon Edwards has now shared his thoughts on the upcoming clash with Colby Covington following yesterday's heated press conference. 'Rocky' stated that the words have added to his motivation for this fight, as opposed to making him too emotional.

During his interview with ESPN MMA, Edwards said this:

"It's not emotionally wrecking me, I think it's more motivation. I don't see how it wrecks me, when it's time to compete I am cold in there and I listen to my coaches. I'm a smart fighter anyway, I know that you wanna go out there and swing and get into a scrap with him. But I'm a smart fighter. It's made me more determined."

Watch the video below from 0:30: