"He knows I couldn't see" - Colby Covington gets honest about Chael Sonnen almost throwing in towel during Joaquin Buckley fight at UFC Tampa

When Colby Covington faced Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa, he suffered a cut on his eyelid that led to profuse bleeding and almost led to Chael Sonnen, his mentor and cornerman, throwing in the towel. Now, Covington himself has finally reacted to what could have been.

He took to his Twitch channel, where he often livestreams with fans, revealing that everyone in his corner, Sonnen included, understood that his vision was severely compromised by the amount of blood flowing into his eye. Because of this, Sonnen strongly considered requesting a stoppage to the fight.

When asked by a fan for his thoughts on Sonnen nearly stopping the fight, Covington was sincere.

"My opinion is that Chael cares about me. He's a real one. If he was throwing it in, it's cause he knows I couldn't see. He knows that where the cut was at, it was bleeding into my right eye. I couldn't see, I was seeing three or four different people."

Check out Colby Covington's opinion on the situation:

The loss to Buckley was among the most lopsided of Covington's career. He struggled to implement his wrestling, and spent large spells of the bout getting outstruck and battered. Toward its end, the cut on his right eyelid had opened enough for blood to flow uncontrollably.

The sight of the crimson mask over his face prompted the cage-side doctor to stop the fight, as she feared that Covington was at risk of losing his eyelid. Unfortunately, her decision proved unpopular with both the UFC top brass and the MMA fandom.

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Colby Covington is now on the worst rough patch of his career

The TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley has left Colby Covington with his first-ever losing streak. He is also 1-3 in his last four fights, with his last win being over a retired Jorge Masvidal, who was ranked #11 at the time and on a two-fight losing streak himself.

It is, in his own words, a low point in Covington's career, who wants nothing more than to become the UFC welterweight champion. While he managed to capture interim gold, an undisputed title has always eluded him.