It all changed when Colby Covington delivered his repulsive comment about Leon Edwards’ late father being “in hell”.
Fans gasped inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, journalists looked at each other, shocked at what they had just heard, knowing the moment would shape their coverage and overshadow the week.
But the biggest change was in Leon Edwards.
Britain’s Edwards, 32, usually so calm and collected, was boiling over with emotion inside.
“It was hard [to keep control]. At the weigh-ins yesterday, I was fuming and shaking,” he said.
“After speaking to my mum and my coaches, we thought: ‘OK, just focus yourself. This is what he wants – he wants you to come out there, fight emotional and try and take you down.’
“Obviously what he said is [wrong] but let’s switch it all off, and go out there and do your job.”
And that was what he did. Despite admitting he wanted to “hurt” the American, Edwards kept control of his emotions to fight intelligently on his way to a unanimous decision victory, retaining his welterweight title at UFC 296.
It was then that Edwards, close to tears, could finally let his emotions out.
“This guy used my dad’s murder as entertainment,” he said.
“After the press conference, I was crying backstage because of the rage. You can’t use my dad’s death.”
Covington’s crass remark raises questions about how far fighters should go when trash talking to sell a fight.
The 35-year-old is often brash and outlandish in the hope of drawing attention to his bouts, but his actions drew criticism from fellow fighters and pundits.
Edwards believes Covington’s remarks were unjustifiable.
“No one felt what he was saying – the media turned against him and the fans were like: ‘What are you doing?’ But he’s a coward and he’s always been a coward,” said Edwards.
“It’s one of the most emotional fights I’ve had to deal with as far as the comments he made, but I’ve got a great support system around me.
“I wanted to go out there and have a war with him but my coaches, my mum, said shut it all off, 25 minutes, and then you can deal with the emotions after.”
Covington’s comment bothered everybody – White
UFC president Dana White rarely weighs in on trash talking between fighters, but he agrees that Covington crossed a line with his comment about Edwards’ father.
“Absolutely, it bothered everybody,” said White. “What I say is true – we’re in the fight game and mean things are said, but the one thing I don’t like is when you start going after family.
“Whether it’s the kids, the wife, the parents, it’s just such a nasty thing to do.”
Covington’s comment was followed by another controversial press conference the following day, where Sean Strickland directed a homophobic slur at Dricus de Plessis after the South African brought up abuse the middleweight champion suffered as a child.
Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley had also previously directed a similar jibe at Strickland.
Despite the gravity of the words being said between fighters, White says the UFC had an increase in pay-per-view buys during the UFC 296 press conference.
“How much is too much? After that press conference or during, or in the middle or whatever, pay per view [buys] shot up 25%,” said White.
“Our analytic team were basing it off pre-buys while the press conference was going on and ended, globally, which is fascinating.”
The figures revealed by White suggested Covington’s despicable language in the build-up to UFC 296 helped sell the fight.
But should fighters say whatever they want, no matter how crass, in the name of making more money from pay-per-view buys?
For Edwards, the answer is clear-cut.
“I feel kids should be out of [trash talk]murdered parents should definitely be out of it,” said Edwards.
“I don’t get how you can use that as a way to sell fights or as entertainment.”
