Dustin Poirier hits back at Colby Covington after UFC star leaks sparring footage of him punching man with no head guard
DUSTIN POIRIER hit back at Colby Covington after his UFC rival leaked sparring footage of him ahead of his fight against Conor McGregor.
Former interim welterweight champion Covington shared a video of Diamond punching a training partner who wasn't wearing a head guard.
The 33-year-old used to be friends with Poirier before Chaos' exit from American Top Team and subsequent fallout with Jorge Masvidal.
Covington attempted to ramp up the bad blood between the two after releasing footage of the 32-year-old punching a sparring partner.
The video showed the American in full protective gear drop his team-mate before shouting: "And new!"
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Covington had claimed last month that the video proved his American compatriot is not the "nice, charitable guy" he makes out to be.
He wrote on Twitter: “The guy wearing full nerf gear head to toe to protect his face and his feelings is Poirier.
“The guy with no headgear, wrestling credentials or brain cells left is ‘Khabib.’ @DustinPoirier Good guy? Bad guy? You be the judge.”
Yet Poirier has now hit back at the footage by revealing his teammate was not an amateur.
He replied: "This is a pro fighter with 20 wins."
Titan FC veteran Felipe Douglas has since admitted to being the partner in the video as he moved to back Poirier.
He told MMA Fighting: “It was an intense sparring session, and things like that can happen in sparring.
“There are some people saying I wasn’t wearing gear, but there was no reason to wear training gear, because Dustin trains well. He’s not mean.
“He hits hard like a fight and caught me and knocked me down. The cornerman took me off the cage and didn’t let me go back.
“As far as his celebration, people saying he was making fun – that’s the mindset of a guy that is fighting for a belt. I didn’t consider it disrespectful.
“I don’t do it, but that’s his mindset, envisioning the fight. He was about to fight for the belt. That’s his life.”
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