Whether you loved him or hated him, one UFC fighter who entertained the sh*t out of the fans was Colby Covington. He was a tough SOB. He was the kinda dude that when you heard he was gonna be on a fight card, you wanted to make sure to see that fight. Facts!
The sad news is that Covington, one of the best and most polarizing welterweights of the past decade, has informed the UFC of his decision to retire. UFC officials confirmed Covington’s decision to ESPN on Monday. Covington, 38, has not publicly commented on his retirement and did not immediately respond to a request by ESPN.
Although he was born in Cali and lived in Oregon, he trained and fought out of South Florida. Covington won the UFC’s interim welterweight championship in June 2018, a title he was eventually stripped of for inactivity. He gained notoriety in October 2017, when he insulted Brazilians after defeating Demian Maia in São Paulo, Brazil. Covington went to build one of the biggest “heel” personas in UFC history, through often ugly rivalries with Kamaru Usman, Tyron Woodley, and Jorge Masvidal.
Covington became an outspoken advocate for right-wing politics and became the first titleholder in UFC history to visit a sitting president in the Oval Office, when he took his interim belt to the White House during Donald Trump’s first term in 2018. You can say that in its “heyday,” he was MAGA to the core.
Earlier this year, however, Covington said he was stepping away from politics, referring to it as a “dirty game.” He must know something about Israel.
During his rivalry with Masvidal, a former friend and roommate, Covington sounded off on Masvidal’s actions as a father, which eventually resulted in Masvidal publicly assaulting him in 2022 in Miami. Covington pressed charges against Masvidal for the attack. In March, he filed a civil suit against Masvidal seeking damages in excess of $50,000.
Covington’s out-of-competition antics tended to overshadow his strong performances inside the Octagon. He dominated former champions in Rafael Dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler during the peak of his career, and gave Usman one of the toughest title defenses of his career in a fifth-round TKO loss in 2019.
But things went very downhill for Colby as of late. He went 2-4 in his last six appearances, dating back to 2019. His last UFC fight was in December 2024, when he lost by TKO to Joaquin Buckley.
The timing of the retirement does make sense. He was really holding out for the Freedom 250 card, to which he wanted to be included in, to fight in front of President Trump. But he wasn’t invited. There’s no single confirmed reason why Colby Covington wasn’t invited to the Freedom 250 fight card. Covington claims he pushed hard for a spot but didn’t get a suitable offer, while Bo Nickal says Covington was actually offered a fight but declined. The UFC hasn’t issued an official explanation, but it seems the problem was finding a suitable opponent that matched Covington’s terms.
