Colby Covington says he’s pressing charges on Fabricio Werdum in boomerang incident

Colby Covington said he’s pursuing charges against Fabricio Werdum in an altercation that happened between the two UFC fighters in Australia.

Covington told MMA Fighting in a message early Thursday morning that there is video to back up his story. UFC fighter Dan Hooker already posted a clip of Werdum throwing — and appearing to land — a boomerang at Covington.

“He f*cked up,” Covington said. “There’s video and I speak the truth. He will be exposed soon, probably end up in Australia prison.”

Werdum is scheduled to face Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Sydney on Saturday.

In an interview with UOL of Brazil, Werdum said he was walking by Covington and Covington called him a “filthy Brazilian.” Werdum said he slapped a phone out of Covington’s hand and then Covington kicked him. Werdum, the former UFC heavyweight champion, did not mention the boomerang in his account.

Covington said Werdum also punched him and there is video evidence of the encounter.

“That's a complete lie,” Covington said of Werdum’s explanation. “He wrote a check his ass can't cash. He's on video so all his lies will be told soon.”

An MMA Fighting request for information from the New South Wales Police Force was not returned Thursday morning.

The UFC released a statement Wednesday night saying the incident will be investigated to determine if there were any parts of the Athletic Conduct Policy broken.

"UFC was made aware of the altercation between Fabricio Werdum and Colby Covington at the organization’s host hotel in Sydney, Australia,” the statement read. “The organization will conduct a full investigation to determine if the Athlete Conduct Policy was violated before taking any further action on this matter.”

At the tail end of the situation, Covington began recording with his phone on Instagram Live. In that video, which he has since taken down, Covington continued his anti-Brazilian rhetoric that goes back to the lead up of his fight with Demian Maia last month in Sao Paulo. Covington also called Werdum an anti-gay slur.

“F*ck Brazil,” Covington said on the video. “F*ck Fabricio Werdum, little bitch ass. F*ck Brazil. A bunch of filthy animals. And they wonder why they get talked to like that, because they’re a bunch of animals.”

Covington, a welterweight contender, had to be escorted out of the Sao Paulo arena by security as fans rained down trash on him following a post-fight interview in which he called Brazil a “dump” and the fans in attendance “filthy animals.” UFC executive David Shaw said that promotion brass were not happy about Covington’s remarks, but the UFC never took any public disciplinary action.

Werdum was in a verbal confrontation with UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson at a UFC media lunch in September and things nearly got physical. Werdum called Ferguson an anti-gay slur in Spanish multiple times, which prompted him to apologize. The UFC said Werdum would have to do outreach in the LGBTQ community, but Werdum has said since that the UFC gave him no punishment.