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Colby Covington and Dustin Poirier are the talk of the MMA world right now. The storyline of former teammates turning to foes in the future is as marketable as they come, and Poirier and Covington fit right into that mold.
Both are two of the most successful athletes in their division and held interim titles to their name. As late as last year, both were also teammates in one of the most successful MMA gyms in America, American Top Team.
ATT was founded by Dan Lambert and its main academy is in Coconut Creek, Florida. Featuring several prominent fighters and champions like Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier, Petr Yan, and Tyron Woodley, the gym has a stronghold in the world of MMA.
However, the departure of one of their best fighters, Colby Covington, was a huge controversy. He is incredibly outspoken and doesn't bail out from trash-talking teammates. Even before his much-publicized rivalry with Poirier, Colby Covington and BMF Champion Jorge Masvidal shared an intense hatred for each other in the gym.
But this is different: Colby Covington has upped the ante with his attack on Dustin Poirier. The former welterweight interim champion made it personal by involving his rival's wife and daughter. But how did we get here?
Colby Covington berates Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier after leaving American Top Team
Covington's departure from ATT was a long time coming because of his rivalry with teammates Poirier, Masvidal, and even Joanna Jedrzejczyk. However, the fallout was much worse than anyone expected, and Colby Covington launched scathing attacks on all three. In an interview with MMA Fighting, he revealed what went down behind the scenes in the gym.
“A lot of people were sensitive, namely “Doufus” Dustin [Poirier] and “Street Judas” [Jorge] Masvidal,” Covington told MMA Fighting. “They had feelings. They don’t want to fight me in the cage. They’d rather go cry to Dan Lambert and beg him to protect their precious little feelings cause if they fight me in the cage, they know what’s going to happen. I’m going to tear them limb from limb," Covington said.
He also spoke about the unusual antics of Poirier and Masvidal, who "created unnecessary drama in the gym." Colby Covington accused them of disrespecting ATT and called their actions pathetic. He said:
“The last six months, I’m going into ATT and Dustin or Jorge are in there, they’re screaming across the [gym],” Covington said. “I’m like let’s go. You want to fight, let’s fight right now. Stop talking this sh*t, creating drama in the gym so they have to make a decision like this or have to do a drastic action. But no, they just want to scream in front of coaches and disrupt all the pro fighters training because they don’t respect Dan and they don’t respect ATT. It’s pathetic.”
Watch the full interview here:
Covington still respects ATT's creator Dan Lambert and called him his second father. They still share a good relationship. However, the same cannot be said for Colby Covington and Poirier. 'Chaos' kept attacking Poirier throughout the year.
Colby Covington launches a scathing attack on Dustin Poirier after his UFC 264 win
Covington never shied away from taking a dig at Dustin Poirier, and things got worse after UFC 264. The welterweight took it upon himself to keep talking trash to Poirier and went as far as to attack his family.
Interestingly, Colby Covington wasn't the only man to attack Poirier's family, as former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor was the first to do so. After 'Diamond' beat the Irishman via a doctor's stoppage, 'The Notorious' sat down in the octagon with a broken ankle and hurled insults at Poirier's family.
However, Poirier still celebrated his win, and this didn't go down well with Colby Covington, who let Poirier know exactly what he thought of him in an interview with James Lynch from Fanatics View. Reprimanding Poirier for his lack of respect for McGregor, Covington said:
“I thought it showed the ‘charitable, nice guy,’ the true character of Dustin ‘The Doofus’ Soirier last night,” Covington said. “He’s out there strutting in front of Conor’s face. Obviously it was a fluke, man. Conor broke his leg. It was a fluke ending. It wasn’t a knockout, it wasn’t a clear-cut decision, it wasn’t a submission. And the guy’s out there strutting in front of the guy’s face at a downfall when that guy made his career and did everything for Dustin to give him this big fight."
However, Colby Covington didn't stop there. He went ahead and called Poirier's wife Jolie a prop and called 'Diamond' a dirtbag. He also took a shot at American Top Team while he was at it, saying:
“So I thought it was funny. It showed his true colors, character. He’s got his little prop, his wife Jolie out there. Obviously she’s a prop. He only uses her for a prop because he knows he’s a piece of sh*t person and he wants to act like he’s a nice guy, a family man, a father and a good husband. So I just thought it showed his true character last night. He’s a dirtbag and so is the whole camp that he resides out of,” Covington concluded.
Watch the full video here:
Colby Covington wants to fight Dustin Poirier
Fast forward to July 28th, and Covington has a title fight against Kamaru Usman on his hands. Meanwhile, Poirier will likely fight current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the lightweight belt. However, Colby Covington has still not stopped calling Poirier out and wants to fight him desperately.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Colby Covington laid out his plans for the future. He revealed he would destroy Usman in their rumored November 6th bout and then fight Poirier. 'Chaos' said:
"Guys, there's only one fight to make after I absolutely destroy Marty Fakenewsman and dump him on his head and give him a wedgie live in Madison Square Garden, November 6th. The only fight to make is me and Dustin 'The Soy boy', that's the only fight guys. Him and his family they are Louisiana swamp trash."
A fight between Poirier and Covington would make perfect sense. 'Chaos' has continuously taken shots at Poirier, and it doesn't look like he's going to let up anytime soon. One thing is for certain, fans will flock to watch the fight, and it could be one of the biggest fights that the UFC can make right now.
