Chael Sonnen argues against Joe Rogan's take that Colby Covington's trash-talk backfired - "It was done purely to show the boss"

Chael Sonnen is Colby Covington's biggest supporter and has disagreed with Joe Rogan's recent criticism of the former interim welterweight champion's conduct ahead of UFC 296. 'Chaos' aimed distasteful trash talk at Leon Edwards by using the death of the latter's father as a weapon.

However, Covington still lost his bout with Edwards in what is widely regarded to be his worst-ever performance in the cage. According to Rogan, Covington's trash talk backfired on him. Sonnen, however, has a different take, which he detailed in a recent YouTube video.

"Joe Rogan said he thought Colby's trash talk had backfired. Well, the trash talk is done to try and bring interest to the fight. It's not done to have anything to do with the fight. It is not done, right, like a person does not go to a press conference to talk trash to affect that other guy at all. Not a pre-fight press conference."

Sonnen continued stressing that Covington's trash talk wasn't used as a tool in psychological warfare but was merely an attempt to promote the fight.

"Colby didn't do any of that to affect Leon's performance or to affect his own performance. It wasn't to make myself fight harder or to reduce him. None of the psychology of that. It was done purely to show the boss that I'm a good team player to create opportunities down the road and to create more money in my backroom check."

Catch Chael Sonnen's comments below (3:48):

Despite Sonnen's claims of Covington's trash talk being purely promotional, it is worth noting that 'Chaos' never apologized for his remarks. He refused to acknowledge that he had lost the fight and proceeded to double down on his trash talk about Edwards' father.

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Where does Colby Covington go from here?

UFC 296 was almost certainly Colby Covington's last crack at UFC gold, at least at welterweight. Unfortunately, he has failed to capture the undisputed title every single time, losing twice to Kamaru Usman and once to Leon Edwards. With his 36th birthday a month away, he is now in the twilight of his career.

Not only is Covington growing older, but he is terribly inactive in one of the toughest divisions in the world. Following his loss to Edwards, he issued a public challenge to Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson but has not received a response. He also dismissed the idea of a fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov.

So, with age catching up to him, no more title shots, and an unwillingness to face young contenders, Covington is at a career crossroads.