Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Over the last few weeks, Colby Covington has taken aim at two of his former training partners and current American Top Team (ATT) stablemates, slamming Jorge Masvidal for being “jealous,” and Dustin Poirier for his supposed crocodile tears after his UFC 242 loss.
Those comments from “Chaos” have forced both “Gamebred” and “The Diamond” to warn Colby of an impending impromptu scrap once they see each other face-to-face. So you know things are pretty tense at the gym at the moment, which is why Colby says finding a new place to train might be in his near future.
“That’s a very real possibility,” Colby Covington said of a having to leave ATT during a recent interview with BJPenn.com. “It’s a very real possibility. I don’t know. I think Dan Lambert is a little bit nervous about it. We’ve been having talks the last couple of days and he’s very nervous about it. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen.”
Dan Lambert, of course, is the head cheese at ATT who usually stays out of the limelight and handles his business behind closed doors. With several of his top fighters now at odds, it’s a situation he’ll have to address as the owner of the gym.
Still, Colby is adamant Lambert has never asked him to tone down his act, even if it upsets those he sees on a daily basis.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Covington added. “I’m always there at the gym. They know where to find me if they want to cause a scene and make friction in the gym. I know Dan doesn’t like that. He doesn’t want that rap,” he said.
“That’s the worst part about this, is the rap our gym’s getting; that there’s so much friction in the gym. But everybody knows the results speak for themselves. American Top Team is the greatest gym in the world. We have the best fighters, we have the best coaches and we have the best facilities.”
“So I just hope that Dan doesn’t let the opinion of outsiders influence what we’re really doing. And at the end of the day, people are going to love you and people are going to hate you, man. Just take it all. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. The only bad publicity is no publicity.”
For Covington, while having to leave the team that brought him up will be an inconvenience, he says he will do whatever Dan thinks is best for all parties involved. One thing that won’t change, though, is his dominance.
“So I hope he understands what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish. But it’s his gym and at the end of the day, he’s going to make the decisions. And whatever decision he makes, I’m going to be okay with that because I trust his decision making and what he wants to do with his gym.”
“Either way, I’m going to keep winning fights. I’m going to keep getting the biggest paychecks in sport. And nobody’s going to stop me. It doesn’t matter where I’m at, I’m the best fighter in the world. And no one’s going to prove different.”
Colby has already defeated one member of ATT in Robbie Lawler, and if he does end up moving elsewhere, the chances of him facing Masvidal inside the Octagon increase. And let’s not forget this old, unsettled beef with another member of the famed camp.