SUMMARY
- Colby Covington's controversial claim regarding s*x offender Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced amidst the release of 'Epstein list'.
- Israel Adesanya asked for the 'Epstein list' to be released in 2022 after Epstein's associate was convicted.
Several UFC fighters possess brash personalities and say things out of context. One of those moments was provided by Welterweight fighter Colby Covington. ‘Chaos’ is known for his brutal verbal attacks and trash-talking. However, during a UFC 245 media interaction in December 2019, Covington crossed the limit by mentioning Jeffrey Epstein out of context.
Covington was set to face Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 for the UFC Welterweight title. At the time, Covington was a strong prospect, earning an impressive 15-1 record in MMA. He was also well known for his support toward then-US President Donald Trump.
During a media interaction before his title fight, Covington was asked what he would be if he were not a fighter. Covington went completely out of line and answered, “Ooh man, that’s a really tough question, and I’ve thought really, really hard about that question. Yeah, Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
“If you weren’t a fighter, what would your career be?”@ColbyCovMMA: ….#UFC245 pic.twitter.com/vPuXe3XiUN
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 13, 2019
Epstein died on August 10, 2019, and controversy erupted regarding his cause of death. Epstein, who was a financier and s*x offender, was in prison as he was charged on federal charges for the s*x trafficking of minors. He died in his cell.
According to AP News, a medical examiner ruled that he died by suicide by hanging himself. Epstein’s lawyers disputed this ruling creating controversy. Covington’s out-of-context comments were regarding this matter.
Epstein owned an island in the United States Virgin Islands and it was reported that he used to commit s*x crimes here along with several other celebrities. A document containing the list of names of people connected with Epstein has been released on Wednesday. UFC fighter Israel Adesanya had asked for it to be released long ago.
UFC fighter Israel Adesanya asked for the ‘Jeffrey Epstein list’ to be released in 2022
Adesanya, like Covington, is outspoken. In 2022, Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child s*x trafficking and other offenses. Adesanya, during UFC 276 media duties, brought up the Epstein list.
Adesanya said, “Ghislaine Maxwell just got put away for 20 years. So she was supplying kids for all these f***ing p*dos, right? Where’s the list?”
The list has recently seen the light of day. According to BBC, several high-profile names are contained in the documents. However, all the names present are not wrongdoers. Some are accused and some are witnesses as well. The document contains over 100 names and over 900 pages.
Covington had commented regarding the list as well. In August 2023, in a conversation with Michael Bisping, Covington wanted to know if UFC Heavyweight fighter Jon Jones was on the list. He said, “The real question that we need to be asking is honestly, was Jon Jones on the client list of Epstein Island?”
Colby Covington almost breaks character 💀#UFC #MMA #ColbyCovington #JonJones pic.twitter.com/BqpNJlFcbO
— Fight 360 (@Fight_360) August 17, 2023
The website that released the documents crashed soon after. However, as listed by the BBC, some names that were present in the document included Michael Jackson, David Copperfield, and Bill Clinton.
