Former UFC star Colby Covington urged heavyweight prospect Gable Steveson to ditch Jon Jones as his training partner.
Steveson suffered one of the most shocking knockout losses in UFC history when he was brutally knocked out by Sean Sharaf in just 12 seconds at UFC 331.
Following the fight, Steveson quickly exited the Octagon instead of waiting around to see Sharaf get his hand raised, a decision that Jones later said was his idea.
Now, Covington says that Steveson would be wise to part ways with Jones.
Colby Covington Says Gable Steveson Should Leave Jon Jones
Speaking on Submission Radio, Covington said that Steveson should leave Jones — Covington’s former college roommate — if he wants to go far in his MMA career.
“Jon Jones is bad energy. That guy is a demon, man. We’ve seen the long laundry list of bad things he’s done to women, to people, to cops, to drug testers. He’s just a horrible person, bro. When you align yourself with, and you’re surrounded by that bad energy all the time, it’s going to rub off on you,” Covington said.
“You’ve got to surround yourself in this life with good people that are like-minded, that work hard, that have faith in God, and aren’t just freaking piece of sh*t people like Jon Jones. So he should definitely cut Jon Jones, and get to a new camp, and get focused, and start believing, and start using his wrestling, what got you to the dance.”
Colby Covington Criticizes Gable Steveson’s Performance Against Sean Sharaf
As far as Steveson’s performance against Sharaf, Covington said that he wasn’t surprised at all to see the fight play out the way that it did, as Covington believes Steveson fell in love with his striking after knocking out a bunch of lesser fighters, and he ultimately paid the price against Sharaf as he didn’t use his wrestling — the tool that got him here in the first place — in the fight.
“I definitely saw this coming. You know, he was over-hyping himself, overlooking other competitors, and he just thought he was invincible. He’s a great athlete, Olympic-champ wrestler, but when you get away from what brought you to the dance, that’s never going to be good for you, and he’s got away from that,” Covington said.
“You don’t see him try to wrestle in any fights, he’s just going straight into striking. I don’t know if that’s because he doesn’t believe in his cardio or he just fell in love with the hands and he just wants to knock guys out, but when you forget about what got you to the dance, that’s always going to be a recipe for disaster.”
Steveson likely won’t leave Jones anytime soon, as he seems to have really connected well with the UFC legend. But Covington is 100% correct in that Steveson needs to really work on what he wants to do in his MMA career, because if he just wants to stand and bang, it probably won’t go very well for him.
Colby Covington Urges Gable Steveson to Ditch Jon Jones