UFC Tampa was one humongous disappointment for Colby Covington as his opponent, Joaquin Buckley, opened him up and left him bleeding. This forced the cage side doctors to stop the contest. Needless to say, it was a decision that ‘Chaos’ didn’t really appreciate. But many, including MMA veterans, believe that Covington had it coming. And the blame was on the former interim welterweight champion for moving out of a gym like the American Top Team. 

Taking to the Weighing In Podcast, Josh Thomson gave a reality check to Covington. Moving out of the ATT left ‘Chaos’ without strong training partners. Had he stayed at the gym, he could have trained together with fighters like Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal. But things are different now. ‘The Punk’ said, “And now, you’re running kind of your own camp and you’re kind of doing your own thing at a smaller facility without a whole lot of people to really train with that are at that top level when you just left the gym that had basically a plethora of world-class fighters there, you saw it tonight, I don’t know if it’s the age as much, because I know he’s older, but let’s be honest. Within 2 fights, he doesn’t look the same person. Since he’s left the gym, since he left American Top Team, he doesn’t look like the same person.” 

Thomson went on to break down the headliner event of UFC Tampa. He pointed out how Covington was gasping for air halfway through the 1st round. This could have been because the welterweight didn’t probably warm up before getting on to the Octagon. Thomson continued, “That can be common if he didn’t warm up well enough in the back. I get the feeling that he’s someone does kinda grind it out in the back first to break the sweat and he comes out. That’s what gives him the ability to go ahead push the pace as the fight goes on, especially 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds.”

But Covington did have trouble in dictating the pace of the fight at UFC Tampa. Thomson, along with many others, blamed it all on ‘Chaos’s poor training. He went on, “I’m seeing a fighter is having a hard time setting a pace that he’s not able to do inside the cage against world-class fighters, because he doesn’t have world-class fighters to train with anymore.” 

Even Covington had to admit that he wasn’t at his best during the fight against Buckley. But would ‘Chaos’ have won if the bout had gone for a bit longer? Well, he certainly likes to think so.

Colby Covington suggests that he would have defeated Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa if it had gone for longer

Taking to his YouTube channel, Covington revealed the truth about his performance against ‘New Mansa’. He said, “I wasn’t at my best tonight [because] I came off the couch, but it was for the company. I did this for the company that I love so much that changed my life.” Despite that, he claimed that he could have won against the Missouri-born fighter. 

‘Chaos’ said, “I was just getting warmed up in that fight. I think it was tied up 1-1, and I was starting to wear on him. I could see him breathing out of his mouth. I was starting to catch him with more shots, so it’s unfortunate that they stopped it.” Needless to say, ‘The Punk’ was right about Covington’s warm-up. Had he broken a sweat before stepping into the MMA cage, things might have been different. But his head coach and mentor, ‘The American Gangster’ was ready to make a drastic decision. 

Talking about it on his YT channel, Sonnen said, “I was going to stop that fight. I already grabbed the towel. When the doctor came in for the third time, and I’m watching that blood — it’s not stopping. It is going into the eye, and that’s the only thing you’re really looking for.” But as per the UFC CEO, Dana White, the fight wouldn’t have been stopped had it happened in Las Vegas. 

What is your opinion on the stoppage at UFC Tampa? Do you think the fight should have extended a bit longer? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.