UFC: Jorge Masvidal glad to see ‘cancer’ Colby Covington gone from American Top Team gym
- ‘Gamebred’ insists Covington ‘was never a part of this team’ after split with gym is confirmed
- ‘He didn’t feel safe in here, I wonder why?’ Masvidal says, adding that trash talk of teammates ‘set a bad example’
Jorge Masvidal has taken aim after Colby Covington’s departure from the American Top Team gym in Florida was confirmed on Wednesday night.
Former UFC interim welterweight champ Covington (15-2) said he had split with ATT because he “felt bad” for gym founder Dan Lambert after relentlessly trash talking teammates like Masvidal, Dustin Poirier, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Amanda Nunes in public.
“I’ll let you ask Dan Lambert,” Masvidal said in an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “But that dude was never a part of this team. He was just a cancer for the last three or four years. But at the end of the day he didn’t feel safe in here. I wonder why.
“This is a temple for me. It’s somewhat of a religious experience, being in here,” Masvidal said of the ATT facility. “Being in here since a kid. My good days, my bad days, my birthdays. All the days I’ve spent in this gym sharpening my tools. I truly love this place. So I don’t like to see that animosity. Even if he never said a word about me … what sport are we in that you can insult a woman? He insulted Joanna, he insulted [UFC two-weight women’s champion] Amanda. He insulted Dustin.
“These people are not in your weight class. I get it, you’re trying to do this shtick that you’re some type of heel. What does that have to do with a woman? A 115-pound woman, a 135-pound woman. Are you gonna compete against them? Are you gonna sell more pay-per-views because you’re talking about Joanna and Amanda?
“Is that what’s gonna happen? People are gonna be like, ‘Oh, he’s talking smack about chicks, I’m gonna go buy the pay-per-view’.”
UFC: Colby says American Top Team exit is ‘blessing in disguise’
“BMF” champion Masvidal (35-13) said Covington was “setting a bad example” for ATT, as well as the sport of MMA, with his antics.
“So him not being associated with us any more … they already removed all the pictures of this coward here,” Masvidal said, speaking at the Coconut Creek, Florida gym facility. “He’s off the website, it’s like he didn’t even exist for me.”
Covington has not fought since his jaw was broken in a fifth-round TKO by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 last December.
“It’s the same thing in the UFC, in his next fight he’s gonna get knocked out and then end up in Indian gaming halls fighting for his life,” Masvidal said. “I’m pretty sure he’s just done, man, life is gonna get him out of there. I don’t see him winning any more, not at a high level.
“If they give him some new guy that just came in maybe, but if they have him in there against top competition, he won’t handle it. He’s fragile, he’s not a guy who’s mentally strong. He used to cry on my couch all the time – when he broke his hand the first time he lived on my couch for about eight or nine months. He didn’t have a job, he couldn’t fight. He thought about quitting two or three times, so mentally he’s weak.
“I’ve been hearing the same thing about his jaw. I’d be surprised if he even comes back to fight. He said he was gonna fight [former champ Tyron] Woodley – he wasn’t training here, he wasn’t training anywhere. Woodley was getting ready to fight Leon [Edwards], he actually signed a bout agreement [to fight Covington], Colby pulled out yet again for a third time. So I don’t get how he even has anybody believing him.”
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