Colby Covington is targeting his return to action in the next few months, but don’t expect him to face former teammate Dustin Poirier despite the bad blood between them.
The one-time UFC interim welterweight champion addressed the potential fight against Poirier during a lengthy Q&A session posted on his YouTube channel where he was asked about that matchup possibly happening. Covington previously trained with Poirier when both fighters worked out of American Top Team in Florida, but their relationship turned nasty after Covington split from the gym.
While the potential fight has been tossed around ever since, Covington says no one should hold their breath about Poirier ever actually meeting him to settle their differences in the octagon.
“No word on the Dustin fight,” Covington said. “He’s been scared of my shadow for years, ever since we trained together at that old gym. The guy just knows what I bring to the table. He knows he can’t beat me.
“He can’t even get a lucky punch on me. He’s not even willing to try like his friend Jorge [Masvidal]. At least he tried. Dustin doesn’t even want to try.”
Covington also had a longstanding beef with Masvidal with those two attempting to settle the score when they met at UFC 272 in 2022. On that night, Covington won a lopsided decision, but the grudge definitely wasn’t settled, especially after Masvidal attacked his former teammate outside a restaurant in Miami Beach, resulting in his arrest.
As for Poirier, he’s been teasing his retirement fight with plans to return to action for one final appearance in the UFC sometime this year.
Covington doesn’t expect he’ll get the call as the opponent for that fight.
“He’s going to go into retirement knowing that I owned his soul and he didn’t defend his family’s honor and legacy,” Covington said. “Dustin’s a little cuck, he’s Louisiana swamp trash and he’s a pathetic little b*tch.”
Regardless of the potential Poirier fight, Covington says he’s targeting his own return to the UFC sooner than later. He hopes to have a full training camp this time after accepting a short-notice main event against Joaquin Buckley this past December that ended in a loss due to a doctor’s stoppage after Covington suffered a gruesome cut over his eye.
The opponent doesn’t matter as much as the timing for Covington, who is currently working as one of the assistant coaches for Chael Sonnen on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.
“I just want to make sure I get a full training camp so I’m at my best,” Covington said. “So people can see the real Colby and we’ll beat anybody in the world when we get a full training camp.
“Whenever I think the UFC has [found] a good opponent, a big opponent, a big name that makes the company business, then we’ll get in a 12 week training camp and bring them all.”
