Let's Be Real: Trash Talk Ruined Colby Covington's Career

[Levi_]

I heard he use to make Jon Jones' sandwiches.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

The trash talk and everything else he did was vile and embarrassing, but I think it also comes down to the fact that he doesn't have the skills. He is a powder puff puncher, there is just nothing on his punches, and he has no subs. Before he started trash talking he was still crap.. the only fight that was mildly interesting was when he got choked out quickly.

I think his hands got worse when he left ATT, he is not as fluid now with his hands, but he has never had that pop in his punches. Decent hand speed but there is just nothing on those punches

 

[PhotographyRaptor]

Haha, yeah, WSOF ended up being the precursor to PFL, but that's where he joined the likes of Jon Fitch!

I know I just find the name hilarious like what’s next, the Super Bowl of Fighting or The NBA Finals of Fighting or The Miss Universe Pageant of Fighting

 

[CPH]

The trash talk and everything else he did was vile and embarrassing, but I think it also comes down to the fact that he doesn't have the skills. He is a powder puff puncher, there is just nothing on his punches, and he has no subs. Before he started trash talking he was still crap.. the only fight that was mildly interesting was when he got choked out quickly.

I think his hands got worse when he left ATT, he is not as fluid now with his hands, but he has never had that pop in his punches. Decent hand speed but there is just nothing on those punches

Firas made a vid recently where he discussed Coby's stance, noting that being a wrestler, he was used to competing with his strong side forward. So when he started MMA, he stuck to this southpaw stance, which of course affected his punching power. You see him going orthodox now and then, typically when he is looking to throw a low kick, and word is that he has been trying to fight out of an orthodox stance down at Masters, but no sign of that in the Edwards fight.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Usman's title reign looking like an absolute joke at the moment.

Usman and Colby were both incredibly overrated this entire time. Fans are morons and must contexualize everything that is current, is better. I never believed Colby was an elite WW, honestly I was iffy on Burns as well. The whole era of WWs just wasn't great, Masvidal fought for the title twice at 170lbs...if you can't identify that the division is a joke from that, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[italiamusica]

People will continue to watch his fights in hopes that he gets KTFO

Until he drops his shitty gimmick, I'll always tune in to hopefully see his face get fractured. He became a massive piece of shit and essentially turned on all his friends and teammates under the guise of it helping him to keep his job. He seems like he's willing to sell out anyone just to keep his name relevant, and that's another dumb fuck mindset I don't understand: any news is good news. Being a massive loser and talking endless shit just to keep people bringing your name up, saaaaaaaaaaaaad, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak.

 

[JoeRowe]

Live by the tongue die by the tongue

 

[SuperNerd]

I dont think many people rememebr the first half of Colby's UFC career.

The dude stunk up the joint, regularly.

It's like how everybody pretends Woodley's career started after the Lawler KO. People act like it didn't happen

I'm confident the gimmick and talk was all positive for his wallet. The dude over-achieved, got old, and and sat out for a pay day.

 

[nostradumbass]

You forgetting one of the guys he fell out with was Poirier, who went on to beat Conor twice and Mike Chandler?

For me, that's more impressive than beating the now-retired pairing of Woodley and Masvidal, and I bet he made a fuck load more money too.

Poirier has been choked out and got KO'd by a guy he previously beat. Beating Conor is a good pay day because Conor also became a draw by talking shit, but Conor is a semi-retired alcoholic who hasn't beaten anybody but Cerrone in over 7 years, and Chandler has a losing record in the UFC.

 

[Fedora Millionankles]

What are the actual figures, rather than an arbitrary and probably untrue '100 fold'?

I've no doubt it made him money, but it likely cost him any chance of holding a title. He went from being competitive at the championship level to just another guy.

He was making the standard 20k + 20k and 50k + 50k and was sleeping on Mas’ couch before he started his shtick. He isn’t a championship level fighter off of his skills.
He then gets multiple title fights with 0 relevant wins and is making millions of dollars(very true) while being one of the most famous fighters in the world(not based off of skill). You do the math.

 

[Shaddows]

View attachment 1019673
Looks to me like Colby panicked, adopted this 'Captain Chaos'-esque South Park-type character, even calling himself a 'super villain'.

View attachment 1019674
But here's the thing.

What the UFC want, and what's best for the fighter, are two separate things.

View attachment 1019675
And that, right there, is where it all went wrong.

Leaving ATT was the death of Colby's career as a top level fighter. Performances have got progressively worse without the super-gym American Top Team, and he landed almost half the number of strikes registered in his final fight under ATT - against Kamaru Usman - in the rematch.

Beating the ghosts of Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal combined with his trash talk kept getting him title shots gifted by Dana White, but...

... it was too late. His pathetic performance against Leon Edwards will be his last major fight, and he blew it.

This is a cautionary tale. Yeah, you can get title shots by running your mouth - but running your mouth at the expense of your career? Colby done fucked up. I keep hearing about how he increased his value to the UFC, sure, but he also lowered the ceiling on his own potential. He was never going to win the belt, but I think it was a possibility if he hadn't pissed it all away on this 'super villain' bullshit.

Always keep it real, folks.

Merry Christmas!

I disagree.

Yes, he fucked up by losing.
But FOR SURE he won the game!!!

He was a virtual unknown and unnoticed that would retire a nobody.
And thanks for this stupid act, he got fame and the money that comes with the fame.

And this from a guy who hates his guts. Which meant he did his job perfectly!

He won!

 

[Siver!]

Poirier has been choked out and got KO'd by a guy he previously beat. Beating Conor is a good pay day because Conor also became a draw by talking shit, but Conor is a semi-retired alcoholic who hasn't beaten anybody but Cerrone in over 7 years, and Chandler has a losing record in the UFC.

Poirier is a great counterargument to Colby.

Both guys have ultimately ended up around the same level. Good, but not world champion level. Both interim champs, though.

Yet Colby's supposedly made the most of his career because he talks shit, yet Poirier has by all accounts made more money and had a better career by focusing more on fighting.

If there are kids growing up wondering if they have to be like Colby, Dustin clearly says no, you don't!

 

[Domitian]

He's significantly worse now he's not at ATT!

That's where his mouth really cost him. He hasn't been the same since. Oh well fuck em.

 

[Gamer2k4]

Usman's title reign looking like an absolute joke at the moment.

Surely you're not saying that when people called him the welterweight GOAT, they only meant he happened to be the current champion?

People wouldn't fall victim to that sort of recency bias, would they? Not on Sherdog?

 

[nostradumbass]

Poirier is a great counterargument to Colby.

Both guys have ultimately ended up around the same level. Good, but not world champion level. Both interim champs, though.

Yet Colby's supposedly made the most of his career because he talks shit, yet Poirier has by all accounts made more money and had a better career by focusing more on fighting.

If there are kids growing up wondering if they have to be like Colby, Dustin clearly says no, you don't!

Well there's fighting ability and there's drawing ability/making money.

They're probably pretty close as far as actual fighting ability goes, but Dustin being a striker is a far more fan friendly style than Colby wearing guys down and outworking them, and even still, Dustin benefitted from having 4 fights with the biggest PPV draws in the sport, where Colby has had to be the one selling the fights.

A closer comparison would be Gilbert Burns. Same division as Colby with no Conor or Khabib to sell the fights for him, about the same level as Colby, but Burns isn't headlining PPVs or getting multiple title shots, doesn't have thread after thread made about him.

You don't even have to do that though, and can just compare Colby to Colby. The guy was 7 fights in the UFC and was on the prelims of a free card with PVZ and Waterson as the headliner, then was going to get cut as a top 10 fighter, but instead started his shit talking, and was co-main of a PPV for an interim belt the very next fight.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Surely you're not saying that when people called him the welterweight GOAT, they only meant he happened to be the current champion?

People wouldn't fall victim to that sort of recency bias, would they? Not on Sherdog?

Oh I was calling that out immediately then because it was as stupid 5 years ago as it is now lol. But people are still ranking him above Hughes which to me made zero sense. 40% of his title defenses were against Masvidal, 40% against colby, and 20% against Burns.
Masvidal we don't even have to talk about, the fact he got two title fights is extraordinary, Colby is proving himself to be someone that can only beat 40+ year old men. Thr Burns fight aged well I guess, Gilbert is still Gilbert.
Tyron Woodley's reign was better than Usmans.

 

[DrunkMonkMeth]

His "trash talk" definitely gave him legs.. but had he approached it all with a bit more class and intelligence he wouldve gone much further with it. Being humble in defeat helps. Also theres a big difference in being offensive and talking trash. Colby trash talk was pretty shit but he says offensive things that make ppl hate him.

 

[Siver!]

Well there's fighting ability and there's drawing ability/making money.

They're probably pretty close as far as actual fighting ability goes, but Dustin being a striker is a far more fan friendly style than Colby wearing guys down and outworking them, and even still, Dustin benefitted from having 4 fights with the biggest PPV draws in the sport, where Colby has had to be the one selling the fights.

A closer comparison would be Gilbert Burns. Same division as Colby with no Conor or Khabib to sell the fights for him, about the same level as Colby, but Burns isn't headlining PPVs or getting multiple title shots, doesn't have thread after thread made about him.

You don't even have to do that though, and can just compare Colby to Colby. The guy was 7 fights in the UFC and was on the prelims of a free card with PVZ and Waterson as the headliner, then was going to get cut as a top 10 fighter, but instead started his shit talking, and was co-main of a PPV for an interim belt the very next fight.

Is that what he wanted?

I'm sure every fighter wants to headline and get title shots, but what about giving yourself the best chance to win those titles by staying at a suitable gym, as part of a serious team filled with talent, and living up to your potential?

I dunno.

I'm sure there are plenty of people in other team sports who are just happy to get signed by a specific team and reap the rewards, but the best players who will always be remembered are the ones that actually perform at that level.

Colby gets threads and attention now, but will anyone remember him in 2035?

Usman will be in the conversation, as will Leon Edwards, as will Tyron Woodley.

Colby will be an also ran, and his past trash talk won't matter to future audiences.

The question is, was that the limit of his abilities anyway, or has he actually cost himself by being forced out of ATT?

I think the latter. I think he could have run Usman a lot harder in the rematch, and most certainly would have come in gameplanned up against Leon.

 

[HereticBD]

What?

He's an above average fighter, who only stands out because of his trash talk. It didn't ruin his career at all. It gave him one. Dude would be a bland mid carder without it.

 

[jitzmonkey]

Colby tells a lot of stories to justify him acting like a jerkoff.
I say good on him for making a name for himself.
While I don’t believe that the story about the ufc supposedly being willing to cut a guy who’d be on a 5 fight winning streak, whatever people are willing to believe…

All that said, if you’re the only one “playing a character” while everyone else is being serious, then you’re being a cunt and should expect others to react accordingly.