Colby Covington Predicts Conor McGregor Will Beat 'Washed Up' Dustin Poirier

Colby Covington has issued his prediction for the main card at UFC 257 on Jan. 23.

The top welterweight is backing Conor McGregor in a rematch of a 2014 fight between the Irish star and Dustin Poirier. 

"It’s not gonna be competitive," Covington said (h/t Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). "I think Conor’s just gonna spark him first round. Just get the Kleenex ready, cause Dustin’s gonna be crying up a storm at the press conference and getting everybody to feel bad for him." 

The pair last met at UFC 178 back in 2014, when McGregor (then 16-2) knocked out Poirier (17-3) in less than two minutes. 

Covington's prediction was backed by more than just performance in the Octagon. He has some personal drama with Poirier, his former teammate at American Top Team, that dates back to September 2019, when Poirier was set to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242.

Covington picked Nurmagomedov to win (which he did via a third-round submission), and Poirier called his teammate a "sellout," prompting jabs at each other that concluded, at least publicly, with Covington's apology in March. 

After the spat with Poirier and another with Jorge Masvidal, Covington decided to switch gyms in May. He now trains at MMA Masters in Miami. 

"You've got people at that old gym, they played the fake friendship game," Covington told ESPN's Marc Raimondi in September. "It's not really a team over there. Everybody is trying to cut each other down. There's a lot of snakes over there."

But with less than a month to go until Poirier takes the stage at Fight Island, switching gyms hasn't prevented Covington from backpedaling on his apology and betting against his old friend.