Fans react as "scumbag" Colby Covington gets hit in the face for bringing up Leon Edwards' deceased father - "This crossed a line"

Colby Covington is known as one of the most polarizing fighters in the UFC for a reason. The former interim welterweight champion is notorious for using his gift of the gab to get into his opponents' heads and is widely known for his ability to weaponize his trash-talking skills.

'Chaos' almost got into an altercation with Leon Edwards ahead of their title fight at UFC 296 this weekend after bringing up the Englishman's late father during a pre-fight press conference. During a heated exchange between the two welterweights, Covington said:

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

It's no secret that Leon Edwards has a massive amount of love and respect for his father, who passed away after being shot in London when the welterweight champion was 13. Unsurprisingly, Covington's unsavory statements touched the wrong nerve, and Edwards flung a water bottle at his next opponent.

Soon after, the two men stood up to each other and had to be restrained by security officials before things turned uglier. After @MMAJunkie posted a video of the incident on X, fans flocked to the comments section to express their reaction.

One fan slammed Colby Covington for his words and wrote:

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

Another fan wrote:

"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."

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshots from @MMAJunkie on X

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Colby Covington claims he wouldn't be interested in giving "racist" Belal Muhammad a title shot

Colby Covington recently made it clear that if he were to take the welterweight title off Leon Edwards at UFC 296, he wouldn't be giving Belal Muhammad a championship opportunity.

During a pre-fight media day interview, 'Chaos' was asked about potentially fighting Muhammad next if he beat Edwards this weekend. Covington dismissed the possibility of fighting 'Remember The Name' and said:

"No, who wants to fight a racist? I mean, could you imagine if I said someone earned something off of the color of their skin? That's absolutely despicable, it's disgusting. That guy hasn't deserved anything... What has he done? He hasn't done anything... He's not getting a title shot. There will be no title shot for him."