Colby Covington is entering tonight’s (Sat., Dec. 14, 2024) main event clash with Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa coming off a decision loss to Leon Edwards his last time out, but “Chaos” blames that title fight fiasco on a case of “altitude sickness.”
In case you forgot, the last time fight fans saw Covington compete he was fighting Edwards for the undisputed UFC welterweight title back at UFC 296 one year ago. Many were upset over the booking considering Covington’s previous fight before that was a decision win over Jorge Masvidal back in early 2022, but the promotion still gifted “Chaos” his third shot at official UFC gold. Unfortunately for Covington, he came up considerably short against Edwards and is now just 2-3 in his last five trips to the Octagon.
While most fight fans thought Covington looked flat against Edwards and blamed his uncanny efforts on cage rust, the perennial welterweight contender is pointing the finger at something else. In a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter, Covington explains how altitude poisoning played a big factor in his lackluster UFC 296 performance. That’s because “Chaos” traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, for the final week of training in order to boost his cardio game even more and didn’t come back the same.
Colby Covington believes that altitude poisoning from training at high elevation was a big reason on his poor performance when he challenged Leon Edwards for the welterweight championship last year.
Full interview: https://t.co/oaq9lGWCFU pic.twitter.com/a5cG3Rbb96
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 13, 2024
“I went there [Breckenridge] originally with the idea that all boxers are doing it, everybody talks about it just changing their cardio game,” said Covington. “Go from sea level, where I live in Miami to 9,000 ft above sea level in Breckenridge, Colorado, and train there for a week and it’s going to take your lungs to a new level.
“It shocked my body and my lungs so much because I’d never been used to that. I’ve never trained in altitude or tried that before.
“When it was the Sunday before the fight I went to the ER and I got diagnosed with HAPE [high-altitude pulmonary edema] and it’s altitude sickness. I couldn’t breathe. They put me on oxygen tanks. I just never fully recovered by Saturday for that title fight.”
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