Height/Weight/Division:
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) / 169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb) / Welterweight
Networth:
$2 million
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColbyCovMMA
IG: https://www.instagram.com/colbycovmma/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ColbyCovMMA
MMA Background
Colby “Chaos” Covington is currently ranked as the #1 welterweight in the world and was the closest person to beat a prime Kamaru Usman. Not only that but Covington could fight all day and would not even slow down, his cardio and pace is his best asset. He belongs in the list of best welterweights of all time.
Covington started his MMA background with wrestling, which is one of the most important aspects for one to succeed in this type of sport. He came from an NCAA Division 1 wrestling which makes his college wrestling one of the best as well.
He started off training and was best friends with Jorge Masvidal, both were there for each other in their rise. Even sparring at their own apartment just to improve their skills and train. They represented the banner of the American Top Team which consists of many elite fighters as well.
UFC Debut
Covington entered the UFC with an undefeated record of 5-0 and has shown promises to be a future world champion. His grappling and continuous pace was just too much to handle for most opponents.
In his debut, he faced Wang Anying where he won via TKO. During this time, Covington was being his real self which is a young, hungry, and humble fighter that respects his opponents, win or loss.
Covington continued to win but his style was not as fan-friendly as most fighters, he did not have the trash-talk and his finishes were not in devastating fashion. His style is really hard to beat since he does not get tired and continues to throw until his opponents drown, not only that but his takedown is elite as well.
He suffered his first UFC loss against Warley Alves where he was caught with a guillotine choke, it was a rookie mistake that Covington learned a lot.
Covington then went on to 5 fight win streak and in the middle, he realized that he needed to build a character and drama in order to get big fights. If no one wants to see him fight, UFC won’t either increase his contract despite winning.
Maia vs Covington
Demian Maia was coming off a title shot loss against Tyron Woodley, UFC booked him against a rising Covington. Since Maia’s game revolved around his BJJ, he needs to take down his opponent in order to utilize his high-level BJJ. The problem was that Covington’s wrestling was far superior and successfully defended the takedowns.
The real turning point where Covington was put on notice was after the fight where he called the Brazilians, filthy animals and obviously, the crowd did not like it. Covington was willing to be hated in order to get more attention. He was hated by Brazil and Brazillian fighters as well.
Covington vs Dos Anjos
UFC booked Colby Covington vs Rafael Dos Anjos for the interim welterweight fight since Woodley at that was injured. In the fight, Covington chose to use his grappling more since it was dangerous to strike with RDA, both had moments in the striking but Covington just did not possess the power to knock someone out.
With more ring control and activity, Covington managed to win via unanimous decision. It also tested his chin a few times and he passed the test.
A few months later, Woodley was ready to defend his title but Covington needed time to recover after his fight against Dos Anjos. UFC did not want and booked Till instead, which led to Covington being stripped from his title.
Unfortunately for Covington, Usman was given the chance to fight for the title next so he had to wait. Usman managed to win in a dominating fashion becoming the new welterweight champion.
Covington chose to fight Robbie Lawler instead where he won all rounds. Lawler did not even throw that much punch since Covington just did not stop throwing and engaging.
Usman vs Covington
The title fight was the fight to make next and the bad blood with Usman just made it even better. The fight went on to become one of the best fights in UFC history, two wrestlers chose to strike for all five rounds. It was a back and forth, and Covington landed more punches but Usman was landing the better punches.
Going to the fifth round, it was pretty much even and could have gone either way. At the latter half of the round, Usman manage to catch Covington and even knocked him down. The referee stepped in and stopped the fight. Even though Covington lost, it made sense that they would run it back since it was a close fight.
Covington vs Woodley
His next fight was against former champion, Tyron Woodley where he guaranteed a finish, and he did it. Woodley was a shell of his former self, and Covington capitalized with his grappling. At the last round, Woodley suffered a rib injury that stopped the fight.
Usman vs Covington 2
A rematch was then booked for Usman vs Covington. Both fighters switched camps and had different coaches, which led to a question of whether they improved or not. Usman was ranked as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, was going in as the favorite.
The fight was a bit different compared to their first outing, Covington engaged more in wrestling.
In the second round, he got stunned and many thought that the fight would end soon with Colby losing but no, Covington went on to win some rounds and even landed great punches. Usman may have edged three rounds, it was a close fight and Covington put on an impressive performance.
