Colby Covington has made a career of being the UFC’s most polarizing figure, but it’s the promotion’s silence that might finally push him out of the octagon for good. The promotion’s recent decision to overlook him for a fight against Bo Nickal on the UFC Freedom 250 card has left him feeling dejected.
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The former interim welterweight champion recently joined MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck on the third episode of Swing Rounds at Crescent Oaks Golf Club in Tarpon Springs, Florida. As they played a nine-hole scramble, ‘Chaos’ poured his heart out about his future in the UFC.
“I think it just shows me where I stand with the company,” Covington said. “…They don’t really put a lot of value on me anymore, and they’ve kind of written me off… That’s their business and their judgment. But I know I still have a lot of great years of prime to give away.
“And that’s why I’m excited Real American Freestyle came around because I [will] give these last couple years of my competitive combat career, the absolute most, and I’m gonna give RAF everything. So, I know where I stand with the UFC.”
Following a stoppage loss to Joaquin Buckley in his last UFC appearance back in December 2024, Covington’s focus has clearly shifted. While he’s been absent from the Octagon, he has found success elsewhere, winning two fights in the Real American Freestyle promotion with a third bout scheduled for May 30. So, watching his UFC career dwindle, and the promotion snubbing him for the White House event, the 38-year-old hinted at retirement as a result.
.@colbycovmma says the #UFC 'doesn't put a lot of value on me anymore,' and that his octagon career is probably winding down after being left off of the White House card. (Via @MikeHeck_JR)
“[I am] still thankful to UFC for everything I have and everything I’ve been able to do,” he added. “But that chapter is closing very soon. And the chapter is fully [opened] at the beginning of Real American Freestyle.”
Despite his confession, Colby Covington has been holding on to a fleeting hope that the promotion would give him another chance. When asked whether he wants to fight for the UFC, he claimed he would love that opportunity, but the UFC hasn’t offered him a fight and has continued to give him the cold treatment.
“I think so, I hope so, I want to,” Covington said. “… But it’s, at the end of the day, up to them… They haven’t really offered me anything, and it’s just bizarre that they’ve just kind of sat me here. I was saying it the other day: ‘They ice people when they don’t accept fights.’ I think that’s the great part about the UFC… But I haven’t turned down fights, and the fact that I’m… not getting the right fights, it’s frustrating.”
Colby Covington had been advocating for a spot on the White House card up until it was confirmed during UFC 326 in March. While Covington didn’t get the fight, Nickal was matched against Kyle Daukaus. In the aftermath, Nickal claimed Covington had rejected a bout against him on the White House card. Now, Covington has revealed that’s not entirely accurate.
Colby Covington reveals he was offered the Bo Nickal fight, but at the wrong place
When asked directly whether the UFC had offered him a fight against Bo Nickal, Covington claimed the UFC did reach out to him for the fight. However, the offer also involved a major caveat, which led him to decline the bout. The caveat, according to ‘Chaos,’ was the venue and date.
“They didn’t offer me the Bo fight for the White House,” Covington said. “…Hunter Campbell specifically told me, he said, ‘The card is so small. There [are] only a couple of fights… we’ve already filled it out. We could give you the Bo fight… but we can’t guarantee that it’ll be at the White House.’”
Covington claimed he was open to facing anyone at the White House card regardless of their weight class. But the UFC couldn’t guarantee him a fight on the White House card, so he rejected the offer entirely. Then there’s, of course, the matter of the weight class. While Covington is in welterweight, Nickal fights at middleweight. Covington claimed he wanted the fight at 170.
“I want to fight in my weight class, 170,” he added. “If he wants to come to 170, no problem. It’s an easy fight. He’s not a fighter. He’s a competitor… So, I would have loved that fight, but in my weight class, 170, on a full camp.”
With the UFC seemingly unwilling to meet his terms, Covington is now channeling all his energy into his RAF career, leaving his tumultuous chapter in the Octagon to close on a note of frustration rather than a final fight.
