Covington receives call from Trump after UFC win, slams BLM

Two of a kind, two of a kind."Covington, an outspoken and controversial Trump supporter from California, won a fifth-round technical-knockout (TKO) over Woodley in the main event of Saturday's UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.President Trump called @ColbyCovMMA during the #UFCVegas11 post show 📱 pic.twitter.com/FJsUMQV8XkAfter the fight, draped in an American flag, he lambasted Trump's Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden."Ladies and gentlemen, the silent majority is ready to make some noise," Covington said. But the bad blood also spilled out into a clash over politics and the Black Lives Matter movement in the run-up.Protests against racial injustice and police brutality erupted across the US after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May. Videos of Floyd's death captured by witnesses spread around the world, leading to a surge in support for the Black Lives Matter protest movement.Woodley, a former UFC welterweight champion, wore Black Lives Matter shirts to pre-fight press appearances as well as a hat emblazoned with the slogan "Make racists catch the fade again", and he chose to reply to all questions from media in a news conference leading up to the fight with a variation of "Black Lives Matter"."I'm just excited that Black Lives Matter," Woodley said when asked about the fight.Covington, ranked number two in the UFC's welterweight rankings, responded by referring to Woodley as a "racist" and a "domestic terrorist sympathiser" over his support for the racial justice movement.After his victory over Woodley, Covington doubled down on his criticism."Black Lives Matter is a complete sham. He attended a UFC event in 2019, which was the first time a sitting US president had attended a mixed martial arts event.Sean Wheelock, a mixed martial arts commentator, told Al Jazeera that the aftermath of the fight reflected the volatile, polarised situation in the United States, but also said Covington is particuarly outspoken for a UFC fighter."Trump seems to have a great sense for athletes and entertainers who support him, and he absolutely seizes those opportunities,” Wheelock said. Wheelock pushed back on the idea that the UFC is a bastion of conservatism; he said it is often an opened-minded production with a significant ethnic, cultural, and national mix of fighters, as well as featuring female fighters, and that its fanbase is diverse.“I don’t know if there’s a typical UFC fan anymore than there’s a typical Premier league fan or NFL fan.