Covington: 'I have to watch my back' at American Top Team
Colby Covington no longer feels at ease at his longtime gym American Top Team.
"Chaos," who challenges Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 245 on Saturday, took on the villain role two years ago and has since become one of the promotion's greatest heels. It's made him more money and increased his popularity, but has also turned some teammates into foes.
"I don't feel comfortable (at the gym)," Covington told ESPN's Marc Raimondi in November. "I feel like I always have to look over my shoulder. I have to watch my back. I don't know if people are gonna come up and try to attack me. I've had people yelling in the gym at me, creating scenes and stuff. It's not a good environment for me there."
Covington has publicly feuded with some of his teammates, including former best friend Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier, in recent memory. He has also been called out by a few others, including former strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and former UFC heavyweight contender Antonio Silva.
But the gym's owner, Dan Lambert, assured that nothing will happen to Covington while he's at the gym.
"Colby doesn't need to watch his back at our gym," Lambert told ESPN. "He might need to watch his back just about anywhere else he goes as a result of what's happened."
Lambert added: "There's pros and cons to being who Colby is and that just might be one of the things he needs to deal with moving forward."
Covington said in a recent interview that he was at risk of not being re-signed by the UFC after an October 2017 win over Demian Maia in Sao Paulo, so he called Brazil "a dump" and its fans "filthy animals" in his controversial postfight interview. That ultimately saved his career, Covington said, and marked the beginning of his "bad guy" persona.
Covington, a former interim welterweight champ, is riding a seven-fight winning streak heading into his long-awaited title fight against Usman. The 31-year-old is coming off a win over ex-champ Robbie Lawler in August.