Colby Covington and UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley used to be teammates in American Top Team, although the champion now trains mostly out of Roufusport.
Covington calls his former teammate and training partner a mentally weak fighter who doesn’t have the gas tank to compete against the best.
“He’s just mentally weak, man,” he said to Submission Radio. “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.”
Woodley is preparing to defend the gold against Damien Maia at UFC 214, while Covington is coming off of a decision win over Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night: Singapore.
The welterweight contender also remembers that when he sparred with the champ, that the champion would fall apart in just a few minutes.
“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.”
Despite the welterweight fighters apparent dislike for the champion, the two could clash one day as Covington is ranked #9 in the UFC Welterweight Division.
