Colby Covington trashes Poirier’s win over Hooker, challenges him to grudge match

Colby Covington was not impressed by his former training partner Dustin Poirier’s recent decision victory over Dan Hooker.

Poirier and Hooker, two top lightweight contenders, collided in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12 last Saturday, battling for 25 hard minutes in what many viewed as a Fight of the Year contender. In the end, Poirier won the fight by unanimous decision—but the performance didn’t do much to move Covington.

“I didn’t think that that performance was that impressive,” Covington said on the latest episode of BJPENN.com Radio, breaking down Poirier’s win over Hooker. “Let’s be honest. It took you 25 minutes to beat a Hooker? Usually Hookers are in and out within a couple of minutes. The fact that that Hooker lasted that long is a feat in itself. But if Hooker would’ve kept kicking it the second round, Dustin wouldn’t have been standing. The fight would have been over it. It wasn’t really an impressive fight. Hooker’s a former featherweight. He got finished by Edson Barbosa in a minute or two. He’s not really that good of a fighter. I thought he got beat. I thought Dustin got beat. It was a very close fight, but I thought he got beat.”

Suffice it to say that there’s no love lost between Colby Covington and Dustin Poirier. In fact, Covington views a welterweight grudge match with Poirier as one of the few compelling options available for him outside of a fight with Jorge Masvidal or a rematch with welterweight champ Kamaru Usman.

“Dustin Soyier, he interests me, just because all the shit he talks,” Covington said. “I don’t like it when people go to the media and they say things. When I’ve said everything to you and the media, I’ve meant it, and I’ve backed it up. I say I want to fight someone, I go out there and fight him. Dustin’s out there, saying, ‘It’s on sight next time I see you, Colby.’ If it’s on sight, let’s go do it in front of the world. Let’s go get paid and do it in front of the world. But he knows better than that. He’s just going to stay scared and keep running from me just like his good friend Jorge ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal.

“Just all the shit he’s talked about ‘on sight‘ and, ‘I want to move up to 170 [pounds],’ and this and that,” Covington added. “Dustin walks around bigger than me. We’ve stepped on the scales. He’s about 185. I’m one low 180s. I just don’t have to cut weight because I’m not scared to fight at my natural weight because I know I’m the best in the world.

“I would love that grudge match with Dustin,” Covington continued. “He’s one of the main reasons that the relationship with American Top Team went south, because he was always complaining Dan Lambert every day [saying] ‘Colby’s saying mean things to me, Dan. You need to set some laws down and let him know that he can’t speak to me like that.’ I’m sick of his crying and little attitude and that little bullshit comment of ‘it’s on sight.’ Man, it’s on sight. Let’s do this man. Let’s make it on sight then.”

Does a welterweight grudge match between Colby Covington and Dustin Poirier interest you?