Don’t expect to ever see a sanctioned MMA fight between former teammates Dustin Poirier and Colby Covington.
When Colby Covington parted ways with American Top Team two years ago, it was not a graceful exit. Instead, he made quite a few enemies on his way out.
While most of the attention has been placed on Covington’s rivalry with former close friend Jorge Masvidal, he has also consistently targeted another ex-teammate in Dustin Poirier.
Years ago, Poirier had already stated that if he sees Covington on the streets, it’s “on sight”. The two briefly made amends while Covington was still a member of ATT, only for Covington to later ramp up his trash talk to new levels after splitting with the team.
The list of Covington’s remarks is lengthy and extremely personal. He has accused Poirier of using his The Good Fight Foundation as a tax write-off, released training footage intended to make Poirier look villainous by highlighting Poirier’s behavior after he dropped a sparring a partner, called Poirier’s wife a “Jezebel,” and he even went so far as to call Poirier’s daughter a “prop” and state that if Poirier does not fight him, that makes him, not Poirier, her true father.
With lines crossed to such a wide extent, some may believe that the only way to settle things would be to fight it out. At the end of the year, it seemed that Poirier might have been hinting that Covington was on his 2022 hit list. However, in speaking to reporters backstage at UFC 271, Poirier ruled out the possibility of ever fighting Colby Covington—legally.
“No, I would never fight Colby in an Octagon where there’s finances on the line,” Poirier assured. “If I fight Colby, we’re both going to jail. I’m going to jail. I’m not gonna fight him in the Octagon.
“He’s not making money off of my career, what I’ve done. This is something different. You will never see me fight Colby Covington in the UFC.”
There is one thing Poirier and Covington agree on, which is that if they see one another on the streets, there will be a fight without any need for judges or a spectating audience.
In the meantime, Colby Covington’s next sanctioned fight is against the aforementioned Jorge Masvidal. It should come as no surprise that Poirier is strongly supporting his teammate and friend Masvidal, as he voiced during this media scrum.
As for himself, if Poirier had it his way, his next fight would be against Nate Diaz at welterweight. Talks had begun for the bout to get made, but they have since stalled.
Do you want to see Dustin Poirier fight Colby Covington in the UFC?
