UFC fighter blames his losses on rigging because he’s a Trump fan

A UFC fighter who is a proud supporter of Donald Trump says his previous losses are due to his public advocacy of the former president.

The MMA fighter hailed Mr Trump as “the best and biggest fighter we’ve ever had in America” and said allegiance to him had “definitely hurt me in my career”.

Mr Covington failed to win the welterweight title from Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in Las Vegas on 17 December, after losing on points.

Mr Trump was pictured on the front row for the fight at the T-Mobile Arena, alongside Dana White and singer Kid Rock, with Mr Covington leaving the ring after the fight to interact with him.

Speaking to NewsMax, Mr Covington said it was “an honour” to represent the former president and that he would not “ever sell his soul” – as he claimed other athletes had.

On his recent fight he said: “I thought I landed more strikes you know, I had more control time… you know, I finished stronger than him, you know, punched him on his back, you know, taking the will out of him but, you know, it isn’t just this one fight [it’s] my whole career.

“You know, I’ve had to battle against the debt being uneven, you know, the judges scored against me because they obviously hate Trump, you know.

“The people in these positions have big-time Trump derangement syndrome so, you know, that’s definitely hurt me in my career.

“It’s also hurt my social media because I’m completely shadow banned on, you know, the big social medias that everybody uses for sponsors and all those things. So it’s been tough.”

He continued: “I’d rather go out standing up for what I believed and then bowing down and taking handouts from literally, like, the devil, you know, you see all these athletes… getting paid off to just, you know, talk about these disgusting left talking points.

“You know, I’m not going to ever sell my soul, my soul, no amount of money is ever going to be able to buy me off. So it’s an honor to, you know, represent President Trump.

“He’s the best and biggest fighter we’ve ever had in America.”

Mr Covington added that people didn’t like Mr Trump because of his “mean tweets” and that the US economy and US border control had been stronger under his leadership.

Referring to the current situation at the US-Mexico border, he said: “These aren’t women and children looking for amnesty. These are military age mens looking to come to destroy our democracy from the inside out.

“You can almost kind of compare it to a Trojan horse except there’s a wide open border. There’s no fake horse.”

NewsMax host Eric Bolling suggested that Mr Covington run for senator when his fighting career finishes.