Colby Covington Claims Dustin Poirier Got Him Kicked Out of ATT

Colby Covington has brushed several people the wrong way over the years, including lightweight contender Dustin Poirier.

A perennial welterweight contender, Covington (17-3) has also assumed a heel persona by crossing boundaries with his trash talk on several occasions.

“Chaos” was allegedly sucker punched by former friend and teammate Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami restaurant hardly two weeks removed from his lopsided decision win over “Gamebred” at UFC 272.

However, Masvidal apparently isn’t the only fighter who had a problem with Covington at American Top Team in Florida. A part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym in 2020 over growing tensions with Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Covington even issued an uncharacteristic public apology to Poirier (29-8) prior to his exit from ATT after coach Dan Lambert imposed a no-trash talk rule. However, “Chaos” has since gone back and forth with Poirier on multiple occasions, even teasing a potential clash with “The Diamond” at 170 pounds.

Covington recently took a fresh dig at Poirier, blaming the Louisiana native for his exit from ATT.

“A guy by the name of Dustin Soreier. He’s the one that got me kicked out of my old gym by crying and having feelings, saying, ‘Oh, Colby is a mean person. Kick him out of our gym,’ while we get locked in an Octagon to hurt each other in our underwear on Saturday nights. I would love to square up with Dustin Soreier, but he’s afraid of me and he’s afraid of my shadow. I’ll never get to fight him because he’s just scared,” the 35-year-old recently told UFC.com.

Despite having not competed since March 2022 and two of his last four outings being title losses, Covington is set to challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight strap at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Despite his heel persona, Covington’s humanitarian side recently came to light when UFC newcomer Themba Gorimbo thanked “Chaos” for bringing him food during tough times.

Meanwhile, Poirier is coming off a brutal knockout loss against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 in July and is plotting a return on the marquee UFC 300 card next year.