As the “captain” of American Top Team (ATT), Colby Covington feels it’s his duty to take care of any problems or issues surrounding the famed mixed martial arts (MMA) camp. And one of those problems, according to “Chaos,” is former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder, Robbie Lawler.
The two men will face off in the main event of UFC on ESPN 5 on Aug. 3, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. And while it’s a chance for Colby to punch his ticket to a title fight against division king, Kamaru Usman, it’s also an opportunity to take out a man who “turned his back” on the team.
“I’m going to have to handle him accordingly as the team captain of ATT,” Covington told MMA Junkie. According to Covington, Lawler left the camp a couple of years ago after he allegedly didn’t take too kindly to the gym putting up a huge picture of Tyron Woodley getting his hand raised after knocking “Ruthless” out at UFC 201 to win the 170-pound strap.
At the time, Lawler and Woodley were stablemates at ATT, though they didn’t share much training time together. According to Covington, Lawler leaving the camp for that reason was simply stabbing people who went out of their way for him in the back.
“All the money that Dan put into him, Dan literally spoon-fed him,” Covington said. “Robbie had everything. I had to earn everything at ATT the hard way. Robbie had all the training partners. They were flying in training partners, all the best coaches, paying for whatever. The funding for him and his training camps was out of this world. No one had ever had that at ATT,” he added. “Literally, he had it better than anybody in the history of this gym, and then he just takes his ball and leaves the yard.”
Still, Covington will admit that Lawler took him under his wing in his younger days.
“He was a good friend and a good training partner. He wasn’t out there to kill me back then, and that was different than Woodley. With Woodley, we used to get in serious fistfights. He’d start going hard when I was going light with him, and I’d have to take him down and wear him down, make him quit,” said Colby,” he added. “With Robbie, we always trained with control. We always saved that (expletive) for the octagon. We had a good friendship. He helped me out with a lot of sponsors.”
That said, “Chaos” really wants to put a hurting on his former training partner, though he recognizes the dangers Robbie brings with him to the cage.
“But he turned his back on us, so it’s personal. I really do want to leave Robbie in a pool of his own blood. I’m pissed off what he did to Dan Lambert.”
“You have to be careful with that guy, because one punch can put you out,” Covington said. “I know what I need to do. We have a very good gameplan. He doesn’t know what’s coming. Actually, he does know what’s coming, but it’s not going to be pretty for him.”
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