If there is one mixed martial artist that loves to trade words, it is Colby Covington, and there are so many fighters in the MMA who have had a taste of his sharp tongue, including Kamaru Usman who defeated him in UFC245 last year’s December.
Even his teammates at American Top Team are not left out of his spite and Dustin Poirier seems the latest on his radar.
The two have had a row going on since last year September when Convington picked Khabib Nurmagomedov to win in the fixture with Poirier, an action his teammate did not like.
This resulted in Poirier referring to Convington as a “sellout” when asked if he would ever face another teammate, Jorge Masvidal. Sometime later, Covington responded by calling Poirier an egomaniac.
However, things were far from over as Convington issued a series of insults on his Monday night interview with ESPN.
In the interview, the fighter mentioned how things were okay between the two at the gym because of the company’s policy, but adds that he can’t assure if same energy would be maintained outside as in his words “I can’t say what’s going to happen in the streets. He’ll probably run from me and run home to Louisiana.”
He followed the statement up by stating how Poirier had been avoiding a real fight with him, something he describes as “stupid”, then refers to Poirier as “a little lightweight washout” who is trying hard to get his attention. He then advised Poirier to stay in his lane and know his role.
But it seems Convington had regretted his statement as in another interview a day later, he took a moment out to issue an apology to teammate Poirier, something he rarely does, stating he had broken a promise to the head of the American Top Team, Dan Lambert, not to escalate the feud, which he did by making those statements on Monday. He said he felt bad and ashamed, admitting he lost his cool during the interview.
He said, “I just want to say that I’m sorry, Dustin. You’re still my friend, we can still be friends.” Covington then added that he would love to have a discussion with Poirier and talk things out.
The two fighters belong to different divisions and, according to Convington, there is no reason why their paths should have crossed each other. He took the apology a step further by posting a picture of him together with Poirier on his Instagram page followed with an apology.
Written by: Leon Osamor