‘I Was Just Getting Warmed Up’

Covington was just starting to take over the fight and would have won it in the championship rounds if it wasn’t for the ringside physician that robbed him of his W.

Colby Covington just lost a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Joaquin Buckley via doctor’s stoppage in the third round (highlights here). Buckley hit Covington with a punch in the first round that split “Chaos” open above his eye, and every round that cut got bigger and bigger until it looked like the two fighters were rolling around on a canvas covered in red paint.

The referee paused the action with 18 seconds left to go in a third round that had Buckley opening up on Covington, and the ringside physician stopped the fight declaring Colby was on his way to losing an eyelid. Maybe a bit hyperbolic on her part, but maybe she saw Colby getting lit up and figured why let this guy take a potentially career altering eye injury over a losing effort?

That’s not how Colby Covington saw it. In a new video uploaded to his YouTube channel, the former interim welterweight champion gave his slightly different view on the events of December 14th in Tampa.

“I was just getting warmed up in that fight,” Covington said. “I think it was tied up 1-1, and I was starting to wear on him. I could see him breathing out of his mouth. I was starting to catch him on more shots. So it’s unfortunate that they stopped it.”

Covington believed it was 1-1 (it was not), a headbutt opened the cut (it did not) and from there he was seeing three people in front of him. Regardless, he says the fight shouldn’t have been stopped.

“Even Dana came out and said if that was in Vegas, that would never been stopped. So, you know, I took as hard as shots and they weren’t nothing. They didn’t phase me at all. I was walking right now. So we’ll come back stronger. I feel like I was really just starting to gain momentum … it was gonna be my fight in the championship round. So it was an unfortunate stop and I feel like the doctor’s the one that beat me tonight.”

“We’re gonna be back stronger than ever,” Colby declared. “This is just the beginning for me. I wasn’t at my best and I came off the couch, but it was for the company. I did this for the company that I love so much that changed my life. So I know that there’s still a lot of fighting me and the best is yet to come.”

Covington is just 36 years old, but certainly didn’t look like someone who could hang with Buckley, who is 30 and part of the next generation of fighters coming up at 170 pounds. If there’s one real excuse here Covington can lean on, it was his lack of a camp or real coaches.

Chael Sonnen served as his last-minute corner and Hulk Hogan walked him out. That’s all well and good for a few headlines and attention but it really just underscores the fact that Colby is now a homeless ronin without any permanent team or infrastructure around him.

That’s not exactly a formula that’ll carry him back to the top. If anything it’ll just get him a few more beatings at the hands of guys like Buckley, if “Chaos” ever makes the mistake of fighting another up-and-coming fighter.