Covington says his comments weren't racist: 'End of story'

Colby Covington denied any wrongdoing in light of the comments he made following his recent win over Tyron Woodley.

"There's nothing that I said was racist, and there's nothing that I did that was racist - end of story," the former UFC interim welterweight champion told Submission Radio earlier this week.

Covington called the Black Lives Matter movement a "complete sham" while also associating it with terrorism after he dominated Woodley in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Sept. 19.

During a heated discussion with 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman - who was born in Nigeria - the same night, Covington asked his former opponent if he got a call from his "little tribe" using "smoke signals."

Multiple fighters have spoken out against Covington's remarks, including middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, women's bantamweight Sijara Eubanks, and featherweight Hakeem Dawodu.

UFC president Dana White said last week he didn't hear Covington say anything racist. He previously stated that the promotion won't censor "Chaos" or any other fighter and praised his company for offering its fighters freedom of speech.

Covington said the backlash he received "was not warranted" and said he respects White for "not bowing to the woke mob."

"Dana White is the only commissioner that doesn't try and force an agenda down your throat," Covington said. "Basketball, the NFL, they try to force a one-sided agenda down your throat. ... Dana White's not like that. He's not trying to limit my free speech."