Joaquin Buckley could only laugh when he heard Colby Covington brush him off like he was a nobody he’d never met before.

It turns out that Buckley actually spent some time training at the same gym as Covington in Florida and even offered to help him prepare for a title fight in the UFC. Unfortunately, they never had the chance to collaborate on a paper, which told Buckley everything he needed to know about Covington.

“Why are you lying, Colby? Why are you lying?” Buckley said during UFC Tampa media day. “That’s the funniest thing. We’ve met before. When we compete it will be the third time we have met.

“When I was training in Miami at the MMA Masters, it was right before he had the fight with Kamaru Usman. Before I met him I knew he was training down there, I didn’t know what to expect. I only knew him from all the things he does in front of the camera. But when I saw him, he was just a cool guy. He asked, ‘What’s up, man?’ (and) I asked, ‘How are you, bro?’ Just a simple guy. Ultimately, I thought I could help you with this Kamaru-Usman fight. I think we should shoot a few rounds and do some training. (He said) ‘Oh man, I would like that, that would be cool.’ The funny thing is that it just never happened. Because he just didn’t want to work.”

Buckley believes Covington didn’t want to train with him because he viewed the future welterweight contender as a threat who could potentially defeat him just weeks before the biggest fight of his career.

For his part, Buckley prefers working with training partners who constantly push him to get better, which can lead to him losing some rounds, but he doesn’t see that mentality in someone like Covington.

“The thing about Colby Covington is that he takes his career into his own hands and likes to work comfortably,” explained Buckley. “The thing about me is that I don’t like to work comfortably, even if I do the same thing. I like working with new people. I like working with people who are hungry and I like putting myself in a position where it makes me better.

“I feel like he lost those big fights because he always felt comfortable training and didn’t want to train with people who put pressure on him.”

As for the short-notice collapse of this fight, with Covington replacing Ian Machado Garry, who was picked to compete at UFC 310, Buckley was a bit surprised, but he also feels like he knows why this fight is happening.

“It’s funny that he was afraid to just train with me and now he’s entering the cage with me,” Buckley said. “Actually, Colby stayed silent and didn’t say anything because he knows the truth. I think he’s really nervous about getting in that cage with me.

“He wants to fight 145-pound fighters, he wants to fight Paddy Pimblett, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira, guys who aren’t welterweight fighters. In my opinion, this could be his last fight under his contract. I’ll just assume so. If you want to fight and it will be your last fight, you want to come out victorious. I really feel like he had no choice but to take this fight because it’s his last.”

Covington later revealed that he had actually signed a new multi-fight contract with the UFC ahead of his title fight against Leon Edwards last December.

Regardless, Covington enters the UFC Tampa main event with a 3-3 record in his last six fights, with a 2018 victory over Rafael dos Anjos being his most recent victory over a fighter on the current, active UFC roster.

To Buckley, all this all means is that Covington didn’t save the main event as the UFC really gave him no choice but to take this fight.

“I really feel like he had no choice,” Buckley said. “Either fight or leave, retire.”