Covington blasts ‘pathetic’ Woodley, shares details of sparring sessions with ‘diva’ UFC champ

Colby Covington had some harsh words for UFC champ Tyron Woodley, who he doesn’t consider a teammate anymore.

While Tyron Woodley spends most of his training camps at Roufusport nowadays, he still considers himself part of American Top Team. The UFC welterweight champion still trains there from time to time, and has ATT coaches like Din Thomas in his corner through everything.

If you ask his former sparring partner in Colby Covington though, he’d say otherwise. According to the fellow UFC welterweight, they’re not teammates anymore. In fact, he sees Woodley as an enemy.

“He’s not my teammate. What are you taking about? He trains at Duke Roufus,” Covington told Submission radio. “He left American Top Team three, four years ago and he’s been training most of his time at Duke Roufus, so I don’t consider that guy a teammate.

“We don’t train together anymore. We used to back in the day,” he said. “Yeah, he’ll come to American Top Team and show face cause he’s trying to keep it cool here. He knows there’s a lot of young up-and-coming studs like me and Jorge (Masvidal) who he does not want to be in that octagon with. So I don’t consider that my teammate. He’s an enemy now. Public enemy number one.”

Covington also questioned Woodley’s heart, and criticized him for not being a “true fighter.”

“He’s just mentally weak, man,” he said. “In the wrestling world he’s mentally weak, he’s a breaker. That’s what we call it. He breaks. Mentally, he’s not there, man. He’s an explosive, athletic athlete, but he’s not a fighter, a true fighter. He’s not a warrior. And it showed in wrestling, you know, it showed in college, it shows in the training room.

“He doesn’t like to go hard, he doesn’t like to grind with the guys cause he can’t do that anymore. He’s older, his body’s breaking down and he doesn’t have a cardio gas tank. That’s why you don’t see him wrestle really in fights anymore.”

He even went further, sharing his version of what happened during their private training sessions, and calling him a “diva.”

“I just remember (our sparring sessions) being easy. I was like, dude, this guy is so pathetic,” he said. “He doesn’t like it tough. He doesn’t like things hard. He doesn’t like relentless pressure on him. When he feels pressure, he breaks. Just sparring with him, you know, all I had to do is throw a combination and then just fucking get on the inside with him, push him against the cage and literally he’d be broken within five to seven minutes.

“The guy, he just doesn’t like it tough, man – ‘I’m a diva, I’m the UFC champ, I’m doing movies, I’m a pretty boy like this and that.’ He’s not a real fighter, man. I’m telling you, he’s gonna get exposed soon, I promise you that.

“You know, it wasn’t competitive,” he continued. “Like, when we were on the ground grappling, his submission defence is real bad, I’d catch him in submissions. When we wrestled, I took him down pretty easy. He couldn’t take me down. When we sparred, I just put the pressure on him and got on the inside and he hated that. He just hated it when he just had to make those big muscles have to work. Because you need oxygen to get those muscles to work and when you get those muscles tired, he falls over and breaks. So it wasn’t very competitive.”

Covington is currently the #9 ranked welterweight. He predicts that Maia will submit Woodley at UFC 214, but at the same time, also hopes to get a title bout with his former sparring partner.

“I’m very excited if I can get that match-up in the near future. I will be very confident, and I’m sure the odds makers will probably make me the favourite too.”

Colby Covington had some harsh words for UFC champ Tyron Woodley, who he doesn’t consider a teammate anymore.

While Tyron Woodley spends most of his training camps at Roufusport nowadays, he still considers himself part of American Top Team. The UFC welterweight champion still trains there from time to time, and has ATT coaches like Din Thomas in his corner through everything.

If you ask his former sparring partner in Colby Covington though, he’d say otherwise. According to the fellow UFC welterweight, they’re not teammates anymore. In fact, he sees Woodley as an enemy.

“He’s not my teammate. What are you taking about? He trains at Duke Roufus,” Covington told Submission radio. “He left American Top Team three, four years ago and he’s been training most of his time at Duke Roufus, so I don’t consider that guy a teammate.

“We don’t train together anymore. We used to back in the day,” he said. “Yeah, he’ll come to American Top Team and show face cause he’s trying to keep it cool here. He knows there’s a lot of young up-and-coming studs like me and Jorge (Masvidal) who he does not want to be in that octagon with. So I don’t consider that my teammate. He’s an enemy now. Public enemy number one.”

Covington also questioned Woodley’s heart, and criticized him for not being a “true fighter.”

“He’s just mentally weak, man,” he said. “In the wrestling world he’s mentally weak, he’s a breaker. That’s what we call it. He breaks. Mentally, he’s not there, man. He’s an explosive, athletic athlete, but he’s not a fighter, a true fighter. He’s not a warrior. And it showed in wrestling, you know, it showed in college, it shows in the training room.

“He doesn’t like to go hard, he doesn’t like to grind with the guys cause he can’t do that anymore. He’s older, his body’s breaking down and he doesn’t have a cardio gas tank. That’s why you don’t see him wrestle really in fights anymore.”

He even went further, sharing his version of what happened during their private training sessions, and calling him a “diva.”

“I just remember (our sparring sessions) being easy. I was like, dude, this guy is so pathetic,” he said. “He doesn’t like it tough. He doesn’t like things hard. He doesn’t like relentless pressure on him. When he feels pressure, he breaks. Just sparring with him, you know, all I had to do is throw a combination and then just fucking get on the inside with him, push him against the cage and literally he’d be broken within five to seven minutes.

“The guy, he just doesn’t like it tough, man – ‘I’m a diva, I’m the UFC champ, I’m doing movies, I’m a pretty boy like this and that.’ He’s not a real fighter, man. I’m telling you, he’s gonna get exposed soon, I promise you that.

“You know, it wasn’t competitive,” he continued. “Like, when we were on the ground grappling, his submission defence is real bad, I’d catch him in submissions. When we wrestled, I took him down pretty easy. He couldn’t take me down. When we sparred, I just put the pressure on him and got on the inside and he hated that. He just hated it when he just had to make those big muscles have to work. Because you need oxygen to get those muscles to work and when you get those muscles tired, he falls over and breaks. So it wasn’t very competitive.”

Covington is currently the #9 ranked welterweight. He predicts that Maia will submit Woodley at UFC 214, but at the same time, also hopes to get a title bout with his former sparring partner.

“I’m very excited if I can get that match-up in the near future. I will be very confident, and I’m sure the odds makers will probably make me the favourite too.”