The final UFC fight of 2024, fought between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley, was canceled after 'Chaos' suffered a nasty cut above his right eye.
The injury left 'huge pools of thick blood' in the octagon, with MMA legend and coach Chael Sonnen later admitting he was on the verge of throwing in the towel. Two weeks later, Chaos finally addressed the situation.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Colby Covington addresses Chael Sonnen as he throws in the towel at UFC Tampa
In a video posted to his YouTube channel after UFC Tampa, Chael Sonnen revealed he was about to throw in the towel; only for the referee to wave off the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor.
“It's broken up so badly that the doctor has to look at it three times… Twice he stops the action to let it continue, the third time he says, 'Man, we can't continue anymore.' I would stop that fight; I already grabbed the towel.
“The third time the doctor came in and I looked at that blood, it didn't stop,” Sonnen said, admitting that he turned to his teammates and said, “Give me that towel, I'm going to stop doing this.” .”
These comments were received positively by the MMA community; the argument is that UFC coaches should be willing to throw in the towel much more often to prevent their students from suffering unnecessary or life-altering harm.
Now, Colby Covington himself has addressed that decision, with 'Chaos' explaining how he holds no animosity toward his long-term mentor over what he believes has been an accurate, if not frustrating, white flag admission.
“I mean, my opinion is that Chael cares about me, he's a real one. If he threw it in, it's because he knows I couldn't see, he knows where the cut was, it was bleeding into my right eye, and I couldn't see – I saw three or four different people.
“So that's it; that guy [Buckley] I couldn't do anything, not even see anything, or my vision was blurred [and] get off the couch. Look how far my back was against the wall, but I did it for the company.”
Covington was keen to clarify that Sonnen was simply concerned about any long-term injuries the cut might have caused if the fight had been allowed to proceed.
“But he knew I couldn't see, so if he's going to do it, it's because he cares about me and he knows I couldn't see and that would be hard to overcome.
“I thought I was going to get stronger, and I feel like they were going to have to throw in the towel on Buckley by the end of round five – so it sucks, it's a shame.”
👀👏Colby Covington shares how he felt when Chael Sonnen threw in the towel on Joaquin Buckley's fight:
“My opinion is that Chael cares about me. Chael is the real deal. When he throws in the towel, he knows I can't see.'
🎥 TWITCH colbychaostv▫️ pic.twitter.com/vjwp7sOJ5d
– House of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 27, 2024
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Chael Sonnen accused of 'gaslighting' Covington over performance
While Sonnen was widely praised for his towel admission, former two-time champion Henry Cejudo disagreed with The Bad Guy's post-fight breakdown in the UFC Tampa locker room.
In Covington's own event VLOG, you can hear Sonnen tell the former interim champion that “everything went great, [and] the tide turned,” but also that “you were probably going to the [FOTN] bonus on that.”
Cejudo would claim during his final awards video of 2024 that Sonnen was “out here gaslighting Colby Covington, thinking Colby Covington had won Fight of the Night. [bonus].
“Dude, Uncle Chael can sell damn ice to an Eskimo, Jesus Christ! I mean, were the tides turning? No. Did he earn the bonus? No. That lets you know, man, that Uncle Chael can sell ice cream to a goddamn Eskimo.
“I don't know what to believe about Chael, but I love him because he'll make you feel good no matter what – is he 'The Bad Guy' or is he the good guy?”
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