It’s no surprise that Colby Covington has a different perspective on what happened last Saturday night at UFC Tampa.
The three-time welterweight title challenger returned for the first time in a year, but lost by third-round technical knockout to Joaquin Buckley in the night’s main event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The bout was stopped by cageside doctors at the 4:42 mark of the third round due to a large gash above Covington’s right eye.
The exact cause of the injury was unclear, but Covington appeared to believe it was caused by a head-to-head collision. Buckley appeared to have clear control of the match before the end, but Covington claimed he was robbed of an opportunity to change momentum during the match.
“The contact was so close, it felt like a headbutt,” Covington said on his YouTube channel. “The moment I got cut in the first round, I went blind.” “My vision was blurry and I saw three different people. I was like, f—k, who am I going to hit?” I didn’t know what to do. I was a little confused, but I knew I had to keep fighting. I had to put on a show for the UFC and the fans. That’s what they pay their hard earned money for and I’m a warrior. We are gladiators. It won’t stop.
“It’s a shame that the doctor stopped the fight like that, because I’ve been in fights that were worse than a little cut on my eye. If you’re in Las Vegas, you know the fights are going to continue. I feel like he’s just starting to really get going, like he’s starting to get tired. I felt like it was going to be my fight in the championship round because I didn’t have that much volume at that point, so it was an unfortunate stop and it was the doctor who beat me tonight. I didn’t feel like I lost to anyone else.”
Covington accepted the fight on short notice after Ian Garry was removed from the UFC Tampa card to face Shavkat Rakhmonov in the co-headliner of UFC 310 a week ago. The 36-year-old’s MMA Masters track record is just 2-4 in his last six appearances with the promotion, but he’s confident he still has a lot to offer the sport.
“We’re going to come back stronger than ever. This is just the beginning for me. I wasn’t at my best tonight. I got up off the couch and it was for the company. I did this job for a company I loved, and it changed my life. I knew there was still a lot of struggle within me and that the best was yet to come. ,” Covington said.
“We were just warming up in that game. It was tied 1-1, so I think I was starting to put stress on him. I could see him breathing through his mouth. He shot. It’s a shame that even my husband was stopped because our numbers had increased and we were starting to catch up. [White] He came out and said if it was Las Vegas he would have been unstoppable, so I took all his shots and they were nothing. They didn’t surprise me at all. I was walking right below. So we’ll come back stronger. ”
