Former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson believes Colby Covington's public split from America's top team will come back to haunt him after UFC Tampa.
Colby Covington's nasty split from top American team Florida is being revisited as a possible cause of his struggles in light of his doctor's injury at UFC Tampa.
Covington lost to Joaquin Buckley in the main event of UFC Tampa on Saturday, dropping his second straight fight. After taking heavy shots from Buckley during the first 2 1/2 rounds of the fight, the doctor was called in to inspect Covington's deep cut just above his right eye, and she waved off the fight after predicting that the UFC star was about to lose his. eyelid.
Covington has dropped four of his last six fights, including a third UFC title loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 296 last year. The loss to Buckley put him a few steps away from the title conversation, mainly due to his recent history of inactivity.
Covington looked like a shell of his former self in the Octagon with the red-hot Buckley. This was his last camp at MMA Masters in Florida, having joined the team following a public split from ATT-Florida following multiple incidents.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Josh Thomson points to Colby Covington's ATT split as the root cause of the UFC fight
During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, Josh Thomson exposed the possible cause of Covington's recent struggles.
“I'm not taking anything away from Joaquin Buckley, but when you train at a prestigious gym like American Top Team, and you've found your way out, you now run your own camp and do your own thing without much effort. of the people to train with are at the highest level. When you just left the gym where there was a plethora of world-class fighters, you saw it tonight,” Thomson said of Covington. “I know he's older, but let's be honest: Ever since he left US Top Team, he hasn't looked like the same person. Halfway through the first round, he took a deep breath. I wouldn't say he was out of breath, he was struggling to catch his second wind or break that first wind.
“That can happen a lot if he didn't warm up well enough at the back… but I feel like I don't have the talent he needs right now to help him pick up his pace,” he says. Thomson continued. “I see a fighter who is having a hard time setting a pace that he can't make in the cage against world class fighters because he doesn't have world class fighters to train with anymore… he has to work on some things from .”
Covington was kicked out of ATT-Florida after several altercations with teammates in the gym, most notably Jorge Masvidal. Covington and Masvidal faced off at UFC 272, and Masvidal allegedly attacked Covington outside a Miami-area steakhouse just weeks after the event.
Covington also got into public feuds with ATT teammates Dustin Poirier, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and other top names in the gym. After defeating Masvidal at UFC 272, Covington called Poirier up for a fight, although negotiations never materialized.
Colby Covington's UFC future is bleak after the UFC Tampa setback
Covington was reportedly in the mix to potentially replace the ailing Belal Muhammad at UFC 310 against Shavkat Rakhmonov. But the UFC ultimately selected Ian Machado Garry as his replacement, and Covington took over Garry's UFC Tampa slot instead.
Covington hasn't gotten back in the win column since beating Masvidal at UFC 272, losing to Edwards last December and dropping two title fights to Kamaru Usman. After UFC Tampa, Covington's path to another potential title is getting narrower as the division adds new contenders.
For Thomson, Covington's current UFC chapter might have looked different had he stayed with ATT and rebuilt the bridges he arguably destroyed with teammates and coaches. As he plots his next move, Covington is running out of time for another potential run at UFC gold.
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