Santiago Ponzinibbio: It’s ‘Good’ That Colby Covington Left American Top Team

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio believes it’s for the best that Colby Covington departed American Top Team (ATT).

Covington made headlines earlier this year when he revealed he had departed his longtime gym in ATT. He claimed it was a decision he made along with ATT owner Dan Lambert as it came off the back of rising tensions in the gym with Covington having friction with the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

And Ponzinibbio was certainly happy to see the back of Covington as he felt he was bringing bad vibes to the gym.

“He had to leave the gym for all that role he started playing and bringing in a bad vibe, so he had to leave,” Ponzinibbio said in an episode of Hablemos MMA. “I think it was a dumb attitude from his part and, yeah, better that he left because he was bringing a bad vibe to the gym. So it’s good that he left. It’s for the better.”

Ponzinibbio had trained with Covington in the past and shared coaches with him as well such as head coach Mike Brown. However, they never really had a relationship with each other.

That said, Ponzinibbio did give Covington his props as a fighter and given the current situation in the welterweight rankings, the Argentine would love to face him.

“Friendship we never had,” Ponzinibbio added. “I did train with him, but never friendship. I have nothing against him. He was never really my friend. We did share trainings a few times because we shared the same coach, Mike Brown. So we shared coach, and we would sometimes get together with Mikey and share a class, but nothing more than that.

“It was always work and professionalism and nothing more. I think he’s a great athlete. He’s a top guy in the division, and that’s a fight that would interest me. I think it’s a good matchup for me, and I think I’d knock him out and win. It’s a fight that interests me a lot.”

Ponzinibbio hasn’t competed since a fourth-round knockout of Neil Magny back in November 2018.

What do you make of Ponzinibbio’s comments?