Chael Sonnen made some surprising claims after cornering Colby Covington at UFC Tampa.
Colby Covington‘s bid at a potential fourth UFC welterweight title shot fell well short of the mark at UFC Tampa. After taking a bloody beatdown from Joaquin Buckley on the feet over the first two rounds, the Octagonside doctor inspected Covington’s nasty gash over his right eye in Round 3 and deemed him unfit to continue.
Buckley remains unbeaten at welterweight while Covington suffered his second consecutive loss in his return. Before UFC Tampa, Covington fell to Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 296.
After the doctor’s stoppage end to UFC Tampa, UFC CEO Dana White questioned the stoppage, claiming that the ruling wouldn’t’ve been made if the fight was in Las Vegas. As the Octagonside doctor and referee shared a dialogue while examining Covington’s head cut, the doctor claimed that the welterweight star was on the verge of losing his eyelid.
Sonnen, who made a surprise appearance in Covington’s corner for UFC Tampa, had a different take on the controversial end to the main event that may surprise fight fans.
Chael Sonnen was about to ‘throw in the towel’ before doctor prevented Colby Covington from continuing
In a post-fight upload to his YouTube channel, Sonnen said he was about to step in and stop the fight on Covington’s behalf before the doctor’s ruling.
“Colby was getting hit on his feet with everything you could do, he’s busted open so bad that the doctor has to look at it three times,” Sonnen said of Covington. “Twice, he stops the action to let it keep going, the third time he goes ‘Man we can’t keep going anymore’. 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,” Sonnen continued. “It’s going into the eye, and that’s the only thing you’re really looking for. When we as fight fans, as ‘tough guys’, think the doctor should’ve stopped it, we’re talking about it doesn’t matter how bad the cut is from our perspective, as long as it’s not going in the eye. If it’s blinding the guy, it doesn’t matter if it’s a little or a lot…it’s the exact same thing. I said ‘Hand me that towel, I’m stopping this’.”
Sonnen’s admission is particularly surprising when taking into consideration the debate surrounding the stoppage. If Sonnen had thrown in the towel and stopped Covington from continuing, he likely would’ve been at the center of controversy in discussing the main event’s ending.
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Chael Sonnen makes surprising defense of Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley stoppage
Sonnen and Covington are longtime friends, stemming from their common roots in Oregon. While it’s uncertain what the magnitude was of Sonnen’s role during Covington’s training camp, he was the main voice in the corner for UFC Tampa.
After dropping the fight to Buckley, Covington is now 2-4 over his last six fights, including two title fight defeats to Kamaru Usman. He’s 0-3 in lineal UFC title fights after falling to Edwards last December.
Covington’s last victory came against former teammate and friend Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272. After a high activity level earlier in his career, his activity has slowed in recent years, averaging just one appearance per year since 2019.
Covington’s UFC future is cloudy after the loss to Buckley, as is his UFC title aspirations following another setback. In either case, Sonnen figures to be a prominent presence in Covington’s inner circle moving forward.