Colby Covington calls for fight against former teammate Dustin Poirier, unimpressed by Dan Hooker's performance
Colby Covington recently offered to be the last-minute replacement of Gilbert Burns against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251. It seems unlikely that he'll get the fight, particularly since he was defeated by Usman via TKO at UFC 245 this past December.
Another fight he's recently called for, however, involves another old teammate and it's not Jorge Masvidal. Colby Covington, who left American Top Team recently following Dan Lambert's "no trash talk" rule spoke about the five-round war between Lightweights Dan Hooker and Dustin Poirier on BJPENN.com Radio.
He said he wasn't impressed with Dustin Poirier's performance and thought he got defeated:
"It wasn’t really an impressive fight. [Dan] Hooker’s a former featherweight. He got finished by Edson Barboza in a minute or two. He’s not really that good of a fighter. I thought he got beat. I thought Dustin got beat. It was a very close fight, but I thought he got beat.”
Despite having supposedly made up with Dustin Poirier earlier, he called for a fight between the two former teammates:
“Dustin Soyier, he interests me, just because all the shit he talks,” Covington said. “I don’t like it when people go to the media and they say things. When I’ve said everything to you and the media, I’ve meant it, and I’ve backed it up. I say I want to fight someone, I go out there and fight him. Dustin’s out there, saying, ‘It’s on sight next time I see you, Colby.’ If it’s on sight, let’s go do it in front of the world.
Let’s go get paid and do it in front of the world. But he knows better than that. He’s just going to stay scared and keep running from me just like his good friend Jorge ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal.
Colby Covington's rocky relationship with ATT
Colby Covington wasn't much of a team player. While he often expressed his respect for Dan Lambert and the work he puts in, he didn't gain any favors with his teammates. The most famous feud within his team has been against Jorge Masvidal, who he's also called out for a fight.
Another teammate Joanna Jedrzejczyk stated her disdain towards Colby Covington before UFC 245, revealing that she was hoping for Kamaru Usman to knock him out. Her wish came true and now that he's away from the team, he likely cares less about his relationship with his former teammates.
With that said, Dustin Poirier vs Colby Covington isn't a fight that makes much sense. Poirier has found his home at Lightweight and is right back in the mix for the title should Justin Gaethje beat Khabib Nurmagomedov. There's no incentive for him to take a fight against Colby Covington.