Colby Covington, one of the UFC‘s top welterweight contenders, has been promoted to the rank of BJJ black belt!
He was promoted by his coach, Daniel Valverde:
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The promotion shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as Covington was an NCAA All-American and 2-time Pac-10 Champion before he transitioned to mixed martial arts.
He used his wrestling skillset spectacularly from the get-go, winning all of his first five fights, and was quickly signed to the UFC – where today, he is one of the top welterweight contenders.
However, Covington has also been a harsh critic of BJJ-related things.
For example, here’s what he had to say about the belt system:
It’s a Ponzi scheme. It’s a money laundering system for people to make money. They say that it’s about respect.
These are the same people that are cheating on their wives, having infidelity in the MMA gym, cheating on their taxes… it’s all bulls***, man.
He also reflected on his time training at ATT (American Top Team), with other black belts:
I saw every single one of them. It’s not even competitive.
8 years ago, I won the won the Fila Grappling world championships in my first year of training Jiu-Jitsu.
Now 8 years after and training at ATT, I’m on a completely different level.If I went to ADCC, I’d win easily.
