Colby Covington has more grudges to settle after he’s done with Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272.
The always outspoken two-time welterweight title contender revealed on Wednesday that reigning champion Kamaru Usman is the least of his concerns right now. Instead, he plans to fight another ex-American Top Team fighter for his next bout.
” I don’t care who wins [between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards],” Covington stated during UFC 272 Media Day. I’m only concerned about Saturday night, and how Dustin Poirier handles the next personal feud. This fight must happen. In the media .”
he’s been too reckless.
The rivalry between Covington & Poirier started when they were training together at ATT, Florida. However, the animosity between the two has grown in recent months.
Covington attacked Poirier following a loss to Charles Oliveira in UFC 269 last December. He said that Poirier was a “quitter mentality”, and didn’t like to train hard.
In response, Poirier said he would never fight Covington in the UFC where “finances are on the line,” but noted that if they fight, “we’re both going to jail — I’m going to jail.”
After hearing these comments, Covington doubled down his critique of Poirier and continued to criticize the former UFC interim lightweight champion.
“Now he said, ‘It’s on sight,'” Covington said. He said, “The last time that he spoke to clickbait merchants, it was when he stated, “Oh, Colby, I’m no longer going to fight in the Octagon, where there are finances at stake. I’m going to fight him in the streets and we’re both going to go to jail.’ It’s funny. Ironically, because he speaks of being a family man, a great guy but wants to fight me on the streets, and possibly get away from his families.
“Dustin Poirier has all these stipulations to fight me. Only one condition. My one stipulation is he lets the world watch and enjoy themselves.”
Aside from his beef with Poirier, Covington also took exception to comments made by American Top Team owner Dan Lambert while appearing on The MMA Hour on Wednesday about the “ingredient” he added to the persona he created in order to get more attention.
Covington previously stated that the UFC intended to allow him to leave the promotion following his fight with Demian Maia in 2017,, but instead he turned on the Brazilian crowd and became one of the most controversial characters in the UFC.
“I didn’t take Dan Lambert for a liar but I still respect the guy, but he’s definitely lying,” Covington said. “It had nothing to do with Dan Lambert. I decided to make that decision on my own. After Singapore, he never told me going into my fight with Demian Maia that I needed to do something or change something because the UFC was going to cut me. No matter what, they said to Dan, behind closed doors: “We don’t have any use for Colby. He’s not entertaining and he doesn’t draw ticket tickets so regardless of what he does during the fight with Demian Maia .’
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“Dan never told me that. He didn’t tell me until after the fight, but I went out there and took my destiny in my own hands and created something bigger than life.”
Part of the reason Covington split with American Top Team was due to the growing volatility with Masvidal, which led to Lambert actually kicking both of them out of the gym.
Masvidal was allowed to return, but Covington says he had no desire to go back and he’s happier than ever with that decision.
“I upgraded. I got a better gym [at MMA Masters],” Covington said. “Jorge forgets to leave out the facts. He got kicked out as well. We both got kicked out, but there was only one guy that went begging back, ‘Oh Dan, please take me back, please,’ and of course Dan invited him back. Dan also invited me back, but I said no. I was better with Cesar Carneiro. I’m better off with Daniel Valverde.
“I’m only getting better every single fight and you see that every time I step into the octagon. This separation with my gym was a blessing. I now have some of the most skilled coaches in the world .”
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