Leon Edwards Hurls Bottle at Colby Covington During UFC 296 Press Conference

Leon Edwards THREW A WATER BOTTLE AT COLBY 😳 #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/cXyH92Xspo

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 15, 2023

Colby Covington has proven once again that he is willing to cross all lines in order to get under the skin of his opponents.

Fans certainly expected Covington (17-3) to come out with his over-the-top trash talk during the press conference. The former interim champion was more than happy to take aim at other fighters on the podium including Stephen Thompson and Tony Ferguson.

However, during one of his verbal back-and-forths with Leon Edwards (21-3), “Chaos” opted to go with a distasteful joke about Edwards' late father, who was murdered when “Rocky” was just 13 years old.

“On Saturday night, I’m going to bring you to a place you never want to be,” Covington shouted. “I’m going to bring you to the seventh level of hell. We’ll say what’s up to your dad while we’re there.”

While “Rocky” seemed unfazed and unbothered by Covington's verbal assault up until this point, the reigning champion swiftly hurled a bottle at Covington before getting up to rush toward him.

Although Covington stood up to meet Edwards in the middle, fortunately, the two were kept apart by the security present on stage.

Once the situation was under control both fighters took their seats to resume the press conference. Asked if the insult made the match more personal than before, Edwards replied:

“Not really [personal],” Edwards said. “The guy’s a piece of sh*t; but just make sure you keep that same energy backstage. Keep that energy backstage.”

To which Covington replied: “Make sure you save that f*cking energy in the ring Saturday night.”

Edwards vs. Covington will serve as the headliner for the UFC 296 pay-per-view event this Saturday, which is set to go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The co-main event will feature another title fight as flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja takes on Brandon Royval in an attempt to defend his title for the first time.