- Dana White is certain Joaquin Buckley vs. Colby Covington wouldn’t have been stopped if it happened in Las Vegas
- The UFC boss thinks “Chaos” was disappointed about the stoppage
UFC president Dana White believes Joaquin Buckley vs. Colby Covington wouldn’t have been stopped like it was at UFC Tampa if it took place in Las Vegas. However, White thinks “Chaos” was not mad that it did.
The cut bothered Colby
Speaking to the media at his post-fight presser, White commented on the gruesome cut Covington suffered early in the fight, which ultimately became the reason for his stoppage loss to Buckley. According to the UFC boss, it was easy to see that the cut impaired “Chaos,” making it difficult for him to match Buckley’s offense.
“It was definitely bothering him,” White said of Covington’s cut. “Literally as soon as the corner would fix it, he’s waiting to walk back out and he rips it open again and makes it start bleeding again. That alone tells you that was bothering him big time.”
“Listen, you go in and beat Colby Covington, it’s a big deal,” White said about Buckley’s performance. “Love him or hate him, [Covington is] a dog, f**king tough as nails. Took big shots to the body tonight. Took big shots to the head that would have knocked a lot of people out. Colby’s durable and tough but when you get cut, anything can happen.”
It shouldn’t have been a stoppage
At 4:42 in Round 3, the ringside physician opted to stop the fight after seeing Covington’s cut worsened. For White, it would’ve been nice to see the fight continue until the later rounds and that could’ve been the case if the fight happened in Las Vegas. However, the UFC boss also thought Covington kind of knew he was losing and didn’t get too mad about it.
“I was curious to see how it would go if it went five rounds… No doubt that was a bad cut but that fight doesn’t get stopped in Vegas,” White said. “That fight keeps going in Vegas. 100 percent.”
“Colby’s an older guy that fights every once in a while,” he added. “He’s always durable and he’s always tough, like I just said. Did you hear the body shots he was getting hit with tonight? And the head shots he took? That stuff would have stopped other guys. Colby’s tough, but I also feel like Colby wasn’t too pissed that fight got stopped by the cut…
“He’s obviously still one of the top ranked guys,” he continued. “What we were saying about him all night, took big shots, stayed in there, the cut was obviously bothering him but I also believe if that fight’s in Vegas, that fight doesn’t get stopped with that cut. But I don’t think that Colby was very upset when it did [get stopped].”
As it stands, Buckley vows to follow what the fans want for him next and that’s a showdown with Kamaru Usman. On the other hand, Covington is now on a two-fight losing streak and is expected to be below “New Mansa” once the UFC rankings have been updated.
Watch White’s full presser below:
