Colby Covington may not have always been the divisive figure he is today, but over time, he has firmly embraced his “villain era.” Frustrated by a lack of recognition despite his impressive record and high-profile fights, the Clovis native decided to rewrite his narrative. Taking a page from the playbook of Chael Sonnen—one of the most iconic trash talkers in UFC history—Covington transformed his persona. Inspired by Sonnen’s legendary verbal jabs and promotional antics, “Chaos” knew exactly what to do to capture the spotlight.

At the UFC’s last event of 2024, Covington faced a daunting test against Joaquin Buckley. Throughout the bloody battle, Covington refused to give up with Sonnen not willing to sit still in his corner. Even though Covington lost the fight via doctor’s stoppage, he had Sonnen’s support. This was even noticed by Team Khabib’s coach Javier Mendez who spoke about the same on his YouTube channel and pointed out one interesting aspect. The AKA coach said that both Sonnen and Covington have a unique mashup of being great fighters and entertainers. However, they could not get to the ‘champion’ level owing to a bevy of reasons.

Mendez compared Covington to Sonnen and said, “It is what it is you know if that’s the case then that’s the case you know. Colby, is you know, I mean I hate to say it but, you know I like, I like listening to him whether he wins, whether he loses. It’s like if he loses there is an excuse or I won that fight and he’s entertaining you know you he is like a Chael Sonnen 2.0 to me. He is Chael knows how to make attention so does Colby but as far as fighting I think they are both in the same league.”

With all due respect to Conor McGregor, Sonnen undeniably takes the crown as the UFC’s greatest trash-talker. Over the years, Sonnen has mastered the art of verbal warfare, carving out a polarizing persona with his unmatched linguistic flair. His influence is unmistakable, and it’s no surprise that Covington has taken notes.

Covington embraced the playbook of controversy, launching a series of inflammatory feuds. He aimed at everyone from Leon Edwards’ father to Ian Garry and his wife, Layla, with provocative comments that sparked widespread backlash. Yet, for “Chaos,” this was all part of the plan. He didn’t just mimic Sonnen’s style; he earned the “Bad Guy’s” endorsement along the way. Sonnen’s loyalty to Covington was so unwavering that he even offered to throw in the towel to protect him, underscoring the respect and camaraderie between the two. Let’s see what happened!

Chael Sonnen’s immense support for Colby Covington

In a video clip shared on his Instagram account, Chael Sonnen confessed, “I was going to stop that fight. I already grabbed the towel, and I, stood up so I could see what the doctor was doing, I said, ‘Hand me that towel I’m stopping this’. And Colby looked so dog tough, Buckley did too.”

The ex-UFC fighter had been in Covington’s camp as a mentor after the former interim welterweight champion had been away for a year. Covington had confessed, “We have a whole new team around me, and it centers around this guy right here, he’s the head coach, he’s the boss man and whatever he says goes…” speaking about Sonnen’s role in his training camp.

However even with this upgraded training regime, ‘Chaos’ was not successful in winning the bout. Sonnen went on to share, “Colby was getting hit on his feet with everything you could do. I mean he’s busted open so bad the doctor has to look at it three times. The tide of that match was turning and Colby did have a few things to prove to everybody including himself.”

Covington absorbed the bone-rattling punches and Sonnen even heard a resonating body shot that echoed through the arena. Even then Sonnen admitted that Covington had the most amount of grit in this fight, Sonnen’s perspective adds depth to people’s thought process about Covington. Can the Clovis native return to his old glory after this? Tell us in the comment section what you think!