Colby Covington narrates tense restaurant face-off with Dustin Poirier, details root of beef with ‘The Diamond’

Colby Covington has detailed a recent face-off with fellow UFC star Dustin Poirier. The two fighters, who once trained together at American Top Team, have a well-documented rivalry that has intensified over the years.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Covington revealed a chance encounter with Poirier at a restaurant

“Yeah… I crossed paths with him about 3 months ago at NY Steakhouse, Coconut Creek Casino, you know, which is in the same city that he trains at the gym and he came by the steakhouse and I looked at him in the eye and was like ‘What’s up b**ch?… say something, do something and he just walked out of the restaurant.”

Covington suggested that Poirier’s demeanor changed when confronted face-to-face, and implied that the lightweight contender’s bravado is reserved for media appearances

“You can talk big to the media, you can talk big in front of the camera. But when you are in front of someone’s face and you feel their energy, and you know what they are capable of, that’s when it’s a different story. Now you can’t run you mouth, now you can’t do anything.”

Colby Covington details root of beef with Dustin Poirier
Colby Covington has further elaborated on the root of his animosity towards Dustin Poirier. The former teammates’ relationship soured during their time at American Top Team, with Covington claiming that Poirier’s ego inflated as his career progressed.
Covington explained that he initially mentored Poirier, sharing wrestling techniques and knowledge. However, as Poirier’s UFC success grew, his attitude had apparently shifted. ‘Chaos’ said:

“Yeah, because, you know like when we were first training together like, you know, he was using me every day just for wrestling. He never wanted to do anything else but wrestle with me…. eventually his ego got to him, you know. He started wining some fights in the UFC and I was still you know coming up and, you know, I hadn’t had the name that he had yet. So he just, you know, his ego got to him and he just started treating people like sh*t and I wasn’t going to stand for it”

The welterweight contender expressed disappointment over the betrayal, particularly given his support of Poirier in the past. Covington believes that Poirier’s resentment stemmed from jealousy and a desire to maintain a dominant position within their training environment back at the American Top Team gym.
So as soon as I started rising up, you know, the ranks and You know I became the top draw in the company, that’s when he got jealous and envious and he just started badmouth me… It sucks cause I did a lot for him man, you know”