UFC president Dana White has been candid about making mixed martial arts as a sport that is big enough to rival other leagues like the NFL or the NBA. Even before the company’s deal with ESPN was finalized, White was already expecting MMA to be “taken to the next level” through this new broadcast partnership.
But for Colby Covington, getting to that level of prominence would not be possible, as he once again connected it to him being passed over for a title shot against Tyron Woodley.
“They wanna be legitimate like a f—ng sport, like NFL, like NBA, you can’t be legitimate when a team wins a championship and you don’t let them go to the championship game,” Covington said in a recent guesting on BJPenn Radio (via BJPenn.