Controversial UFC star Sean Strickland rounded on Colby Covington for his vile jibe about Leon Edwards' late father. 

Strickland has come under fire himself for distasteful comments and is known to be one of the promotion's most divisive characters but even for him, Covington's comment on Thursday about Edwards' father - who was shot and killed when 'Rocky' was 13 - went beyond the pale. 

'Colby Is an utter piece of s**t,' he said at the seasonal press conference. 'What it is, if you know Colby on a personal level, he f****d over everybody. 

'Him making fun of Leon’s dad is the biggest c*** move you could ever do.

'And I take it as a personal insult to me, you guys, the Trump says are Republicans, you guys are my f*****g people, the blue collar workers, you guys are my f*****g people. 

'Leon's mum, she raised a boy to be a f*****g man to win a title to be a good man. And a real fucking American would, would applaud for that. So just so you know, Colby is a fake f*****g p****.

'And if he was standing here right next to me, the only f*****g thing he would do is call 911 because he is the definition of a f*****g b*****.'

On Thursday, Covington was roundly condemned after saying: 'I'm bringing you to the seventh layer of hell. 'We'll say "what's up" to your dad while we're there.' 

Edwards' demeanor quickly changed and he threw a water bottle at his rival, who was wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap, as well as fancy dress as George Washington. 

The bottle struck Covington, leading to both fighters immediately standing up to confront each other before security stepped in to separate them. 

Edwards' father was shot and killed in a London nightclub when the MMA star was just 13. 'Rocky' has since said he believes the motive of the murderer was a dispute over money. 

Edwards was raised by his mother, who worked multiple jobs in supporting him chasing his MMA dreams. 

Strickland was front and centre at the UFC seasonal press conference alongside his opponent for January's middleweight title defence Dricus du Plessis. 

The American, despite his attack on Covington, used a homophobic slur towards the South African and the pair became heated, with Du Plessis saying he'd give the champion 'a worse beating than his father ever did'. 

It seems the low bar set by Covington has given fighters carte blanche to say just about anything they like. 

As Edwards and Covington faced off for the final time before they meet, Edwards was clearly still visibly furious with his opponent and said to Joe Rogan: 'That man is as good as dead tomorrow. Make sure you keep everything what you said about my dad. Tomorrow, we can settle it.'