Chael Sonnen has a theory on Colby Covington’s nasty dig at Matt Hughes.
Covington caused controversy at the conclusion of UFC Newark. “Chaos” turned in a stellar performance against Robbie Lawler, but it was perhaps overshadowed by his post-fight speech. After defeating Lawler via unanimous decision, Covington hurled a verbal jab at the expense of Hughes.
“Let’s talk about the lesson we learned tonight. It’s a strong lesson that Robbie should’ve learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes. You stay off the tracks when the train’s coming through, junior. Don’t matter if there’s a Trump train or the Colby train, get out the way!”
Covington referenced Hughes’ 2017 train accident. The UFC Hall of Famer’s truck collided with an oncoming train. Hughes had to be airlifted to a hospital and suffered head trauma.
Sonnen posted a clip taken from his You’re Welcome podcast. In the video, he addressed Covington’s comment and said he believes Hughes may have given his blessing ahead of time.
“I am inclined to believe, whether I’m right or not, that there is a likelihood that Matt was in on it. A likelihood that Matt was tipped off ahead of time. ‘Hey here’s what I’m thinking about saying. What are you thinking Matt?’ Got a chuckle and gave it support.”
Sonnen went on to explain why he’d have such a hunch.
“Now without having any evidence of that, and I don’t have any evidence of that, but Matt Hughes in real life is best friends with Dan Lambert. Dan Lambert is not only Colby’s manager and mentor, Dan Lambert owns the American Top Team. Owns the whole gym. So I don’t believe that Colby would be able to just go out and insult [Hughes]. It was such a dirty line. It was just a dirty, mean-spirited line. I don’t believe he would go out and do that to Matt Hughes unless maybe there was a little discussion ahead of time.”
