nt"

NEWARK, N.J. – Matt Hughes is keeping his head up after being targeted by former interim welterweight champ Colby Covington.

“This is the fighting world,” the UFC Hall of Famer wrote on Instagram. “People trash talk and you gotta have thick skin.”

View this post on Instagram

Not sure if @colbycovmma should have use my accident as fuel for his post-fight trash talk, but that was one heck of a fight. Nice win for @americantopteam, and @ruthless_rl always puts on a good fight. Reminder though, this is the fighting world. People trash talk and you gotta have thick skin.

A post shared by Matt Hughes (@matthughes9x) on Aug 3, 2019 at 3:40pm PDT

Covington went on the attack after beating Hughes’ former training partner, Robbie Lawler, in the UFC on ESPN 5 headliner, referencing Hughes’ near-death collision with a train in 2017 and plugging Donald Trump at the same time.

“It’s a strong lesson that Robbie should have learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes,” Covington said. “You stay off the tracks when the train’s coming through, junior! It don’t matter if it’s the Trump train, or the Colby train. Get out of the way!”

Hughes wrote he was “not sure Covington should have use my accident as fuel for his post-fight trash talk,” but added the ex-interim champ put on a “heck of a fight.”

Asked about Covington’s comments about his former training partner, Lawler said he was more interested in minding his own business.

“I couldn’t even really hear what he said,” said Lawler, who dropped a unanimous decision to Covington. “Guys are crossing the line. It seems like the media loves it. They eat it up, right? So that’s for you guys to write about and have your own opinions.

“It’s not for me to have an opinion. Everyone wants to see what I have to say. What do you guys have to say about it? It is what it is. I’m just worried about myself, as usual.”

Per the usual, Covington didn’t back down from his words when asked about them backstage. Drinking from a bottle he hastily inscribed with the words “nerd tears,” the surging welterweight said he did nothing wrong by calling out a UFC legend.

“Did I say something that was offensive? The guy’s done some pretty crappy stuff,” Covington said. “He’s got lawsuits against his family, against his brother. I just said the truth. I’m honest.”

Covington is likely referencing a serious of domestic disputes involving Hughes that came to light earlier this year. Hughes’ ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse and filed a protective order, as did Hughes’ twin brother after an alleged dispute over farming equipment. Hughes denied all wrongdoing and said his family members were trying to distance themselves from the burdens of his ongoing recovery from the accident.

Moments after exchanging words with champ Kamaru Usman, Covington was in no mood to backtrack on anything he said.

“I’m a little bit brutally honest sometimes and people can’t handle it If people are worried about words, but we go into the octagon to kill each other, don’t be so sensitive, snowflake,” he said.