Dana White has responded to Colby Covington’s claims that he was not offered a fight on the upcoming UFC White House card, insisting there is a clear reason for his absence.

Covington, a former interim welterweight champion who had repeatedly referred to himself as Donald Trump’s ‘”favourite fighter,” has been vocal in recent months about his frustrations with the promotion after missing out on the June 14 event, which is set to be one of the UFC’s most high-profile cards.

White addressed the situation following UFC 327, rejecting suggestions that fighters are overlooked without cause. “Yeah, of course there’s the whole Colby thing, every time you hear something publicly from these guys and ‘oh this didn’t happen, that didn’t happen’, always remember this, this is common sense, we have to get these guys three fights a year, if we don’t, we have to pay them, even if they don’t fight,” said White.

He added that Covington’s omission was not arbitrary. “We’re always offering guys fights and if he didn’t make it on the White House card, there’s absolutely positively a reason… What we don’t do is f*ck guys over and just let them sit around and ‘no we’re not gonna give you a fight’,” White said.

White also pointed to the scale of UFC operations when explaining how bouts are arranged. “It’s the exact opposite, we’re doing 44 cards a year, people fall out all the time, the list goes on and on, everybody is being offered fights,” he continued, according to the event broadcast.

Covington has not fought in the UFC since 2024 and has instead competed in Real American Freestyle Wrestling, while also maintaining a public feud with Bo Nickal, who is scheduled to appear on the White House card. It remains unclear when Covington will return to UFC competition.