"He kind of runs his own career" - Joaquin Buckley points out Colby Covington's training habits which cost him Kamaru Usman and other big fights

Colby Covington showcased some things in training to Joaquin Buckley years ago that gave the latter some insights into why the former faltered in some of his bigger bouts. UFC Tampa is set for Dec. 14 and one-half of the Fight Night headliner was speaking at the pre-fight media day and was asked about the persona of Covington.

The reporter asked about some of the differences between Covington's persona, which he projects ahead of fights, versus how he is off camera.

When describing the differences in the gimmick of 'Chaos' compared to how chill Colby Covington came across to him behind closed doors at MMA Masters ahead of Covington's Kamaru Usman bout, Buckley said:

"I was like hey, man, I can help you out with this Kamaru Usman fight. We should probably get some rounds in, get some training in. 'Oh man, I would love that, man. That would be cool'. Funny thing about it, it just never happened because he just didn't want to work. The thing about Colby Covington like he kind of runs his own career."

"He likes to work comfortable. The thing about me is, even though I kind of do the same thing, I don't like working comfortable. I like working with new guys, I like working with guys that are hungry, I like putting myself in position where it's going to make me better. That's where I feel like he lost those big fights. It's because he was always training comfortable."

Check out Joaquin Buckley's theory on Colby Covington's losses in big UFC fights below [6:00]:

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Colby Covington's attempt to pull himself from the lowest of low

This is a key juncture in the career of Colby Covington who is looking to rebound from his third failed welterweight title bid and pull himself up from a moment that he described as feeling like the lowest of low.

The 36-year-old articulated this recently during an ESPN MMA piece titled UFC Journey: Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley which was posted to YouTube in the lead-up to their fight on Saturday night.

'Chaos' has been out of the cage for a year but says he is now in a better place than he's ever been. This was not the case in the earlier stages of this hiatus timeline as losing to Leon Edwards in his third welterweight title bid made him forget who he was initially.

The California native mentioned how he canceled out the bad energy and did his best to subvert the hype as well as ego components to do what is needed to carve out a path toward an elusive fourth crack at the UFC's 170-pound crown. A fellow former UFC welterweight title contender seems to lean toward Covington getting back in the win column this weekend while one of UFC 310's victors favors Buckley.