"You pay women to stand next to you in underwear" - Fans react as Colby Covington's "woke" attempt to chastise Sean Strickland backfires 

In the lead-up to the highly anticipated welterweight title fight at UFC 296, Colby Covington has taken center stage for his verbal onslaught, particularly directed at UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

What started as a fiery exchange of words has evolved into a pointed critique of Strickland's controversial comments about women in the past.

Covington, never one to shy away from expressing his opinions, didn't hold back while speaking about Strickland during UFC 296 media day. It's worth noting that 'Chaos' has set his sights on a potential clash against Strickland if he wins the fight against Edwards this weekend.

While discussing his upcoming fight with Leon Edwards, Colby Covington seized the opportunity to address Strickland, labeling him as "f****** stupid" and expressing his eagerness to "slap" him. However, the verbal sparring took a more serious turn as Covington delved into Strickland's stance towards women. He stated:

“I mean the guy said women only belong in the kitchen. If you told that to my friend Candace Owens, she would literally run circles around him and make him look like the amateur jabroni that he is. The guy’s the easiest fight in the division. There’s a reason he ran away from my division. Because he couldn’t cut it. So I’m just speaking on what everybody believes and thinks as well.”

The welterweight contender's choice to highlight Strickland's comments on women sparked immediate backlash and raised eyebrows among fans and the MMA community.

One fan in particular highlighted Colby Covington's usual promotional tactics, featuring women in bikinis alongside him while playfully labeling his audience as "nerds" and "virgins." The fan wrote:

"Candace Owen’s literally sold herself out so she could rub shoulders with racist rich men. Not to mention you literally pay women to stand next to you in their underwear. Stop it."

Another fan wrote:

"At least Strickland doesn’t need to fake a persona to make money or be entertaining Strickland is who Colby wishes he was."

One user commented:

"Colby trying to score woke points now?"

Check out some of the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions via: @MMAFighting on X

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Sean Strickland reacts to Colby Covington's recent comments

Sean Strickland recently scoffed at Colby Covington's comments expressing a desire to move up in weight class to challenge the UFC middleweight champion.

Covington, critical of Strickland's outspoken nature, stated he would like to slap the American around and labeled him "f****ing stupid."

Strickland, unimpressed by the comments, responded by calling Covington "pathetic" and citing incidents where 'Chaos' was involved in altercations with fighters like Fabricio Werdum and Jorge Masvidal. Reacting to Covington's comments in an Instagram post made by MMA Fighting, Strickland wrote:

"The only thing Colby can do is call 911 'someone send help'. Not one ounce of respect for him... You ran from Verdum and you called the cops on George after running your mouth."

Check out Strickland's comment below:

Strickland's comment via: @mmafighting on Instagram