Colby Covington 'crossed the line' with comment about Leon Edwards' late father, he had to be restrained

Colby Covington has been accused of going 'too far' after making a comment about Leon Edwards' late father ahead of their fight at UFC 296.

Edwards will defend his UFC Welterweight Championship for the second time against the controversial American fighter on Saturday (Sunday 3am UK time) in Paradise, Nevada, in what is scheduled to be the main event of the show.

It is the Brit's first fight since March, when he retained his welterweight belt via majority decision against Kamaru Usman in London.

He takes on 36-year-old Covington, who hasn't competed since March 2022 and is second favourite to win the fight.

The American has made headlines previously for his outspoken views and comments, telling Usman ahead of their fight in 2018 that the Nigerian-American's coach, who died of a heart attack the previous year, would be 'watching from hell' when the pair fought.

Ahead of their fight on Saturday, Covington crossed a similar line in making comments about Edwards' father, who was shot and killed in a London nightclub when the current welterweight champion was just 13.

He said: "I'm bringing you to the seventh layer of hell. We'll say what's up to your dad while we're there."

Edwards was left furious by the comment, launching a water bottle at the American, and Covington - who was wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap - had to be restrained by security to avoid a scuffle.

You can see the clip below.

Both MMA journalists and fans took to X (Twitter) to condemn Covington's comment, with one journalist writing: "Colby Covington has never been good at trash talk but invoking Leon Edwards' late father, who was murdered when Leon was just 13 years old, is an abhorrent new low."

Meanwhile, UFC welterweight fighter Jack Shore commented: "No defending Colby here. Scumbag move. Rocky [Edwards] by KO."