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Published 10:05 IST, September 21st 2020

Colby Covington calls LeBron James "spineless coward", slams BLM movement

Colby Covington called Lakers' LeBron James and other woke athletes "spineless cowards" as he branded the BLM movements as a "total sham."

Reported by: Sujay Chakraborty
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UFC fighter Colby Covington went on a complete rant-mode on Saturday after his dominant fifth-round TKO win over former Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Covington labelled the ongoing Black Lives Matter a "sham" and called LeBron James and other 'woke athletes' spineless cowards. The 32-year-old even branded Woodley a "communist" for supporting criminals and hating America. 

Currently, the No.2 ranked Welterweight fighter in UFC, Colby Covington extended his record to 16-2-0 with a technical knockout late in the fifth round. The former interim champion bounced back from his loss to champion Kamaru Usman last year to hand a third consecutive defeat to Tyron Woodley.

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Colby Covington's rant against LeBron James, BLM movement

A fired up Covington took shots at US Presidential candidate Joe Biden, claiming Donald Trump will dominate Biden during the November election, which he said will be a "landslide." Covington then turned his attentions to the "woke athletes" who have publicly shown their support for the BLM movement.

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Covington praised the US military and first responders for protecting the nation but slammed the athletes for being spineless cowards. "(First responders) keep this world safe, not these woke athletes, man,” Covington said. “I’m sick of these woke athletes, these spineless cowards like LeBron James.”

During the post-fight interview he added, "You know the Black Lives Matter is a complete sham. It is a joke. They are taking these people. They are complete terrorists. They are taking these people that are criminals. You know, these aren’t people that are hard working Americans. Blue collar Americans. These are bad people. They are criminals, you know, and they shouldn’t be attacking police. You know if you are breaking the law and you are threatening the cops with weapons. You know, you deserve to get what you get."

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This is not the first time Covington took shots at NBA players for supporting the anti-racism movement. Last month, Covinton called the players "playing a kids game" when they opted against taking the court as a sign of protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. 

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Social media reacts to Covington slamming LeBron and other athletes

Covington's harsh comments unsurprisingly drew a lot of backlash on social media from fans and celebrities. Actor Ice Cube's son O’Shea Jackson Jr. posted a series of tweets, calling out Covington for unnecessarily criticising the BLM movement just to endorse Donald Trump publicly. 

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(Image Credits: UFC, LeBron James Instagram Handles)

10:05 IST, September 21st 2020