5 Defining Moments: Colby Covington

Colby Covington may have finally reached the put-up-or-shut-up phase of his career.

The 35-year-old contender and promotional lightning rod will challenge Leon Edwards for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title in the UFC 296 main event on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Covington enters the Octagon having won of his past 11 bouts. The MMA Masters rep owns a 12-3 record in the UFC, with victories over former welterweight champions Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley anchoring his resume.

As Covington approaches his forthcoming battle with Edwards at 170 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. No Escape

“The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” Season 3 winner Warlley Alves submitted Covington with a first-round guillotine choke as part of the UFC 194 undercard on Dec. 12, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The unbeaten Clovis, California, native checked out 86 seconds into Round 1. Operating in the shadows of the Conor McGregor-Jose Aldo main event, Alves pressed forward against the American Top Team-trained wrestler, conceded a takedown and quickly returned to his feet after eating an elbow. Covington remained engaged in the clinch, allowing the Brazilian to jump to a guillotine. He tried unsuccessfully to slam his way out of Alves’ clutches and had no recourse but to tap. It remains the only submission loss of Covington’s 20-fight career.

2. A Villian Hits His Stride

Covington continued his ascent on the welterweight ladder and stepped over onetime Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Demian Maia on the way up, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 119 co-main event on Oct. 28, 2017 at Geraldo Jose de Almeida Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Scores were 29-27, 30-27 and 30-26. Maia outstruck the NCAA All-American wrestler through much of the first round, opening a cut below his right eyebrow with a series of clubbing left hands. However, the success was short-lived. Covington hit his stride in the middle stanza, sprawled out of attempted takedowns from the weary Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and picked him apart from the outside. He moved forward in Round 3, pressured and bloodied the stationary Maia with punches, denied his bid for takedowns and made him pay with heavy ground-and-pound in the waning moments. Afterward, Covington went on his now-infamous diatribe in which he called Brazil “a dump” and referred to the crowd as “filthy animals.”

3. Sliver of Gold

The polarizing American Top Team standout executed repeated takedowns and captured the interim welterweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC 225 co-headliner on June 9, 2018 at the United Center in Chicago. All three cageside judges scored it for Covington: 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47. He took down Dos Anjos seven times in the 25-minute battle: twice in the first round, twice in the second, once in the fourth and twice more in the fifth. It provided the difference in a fight that was otherwise closely contested. The top-shelf welterweights split the striking categories. Covington outlanded his counterpart 142-130 in total strikes, while dos Anjos held a narrow 105-99 margin in significant strikes.

4. Short of the Mark

Kamaru Usman maintained his stranglehold on the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown with a unanimous decision over Covington in the UFC 268 main event on Nov. 6, 2021 at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three cageside judges scored it for Usman: 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46. An understandably cautious Covington—he succumbed to fifth-round punches from the champion in their December 2019 encounter at UFC 245—took some time to get going. Usman floored him twice with crushing left hooks in the second round, but the MMA Masters export managed to survive and once again pushed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 21 winner to his limit. Covington started to string punches together in the third round, wobbled his rival with uppercuts on more than one occasion and even forced him backward with a body kick. Usman stayed composed in the face of significant pressure, leaned on his jab and made his way to the finish line with his title reign alive and a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head series.

5. Broken Bond

Repeated takedowns and high-volume output carried Covington to a unanimous decision over former American Top Team stablemate Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 272 headliner on March 5, 2022 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-46, 50-44 and 50-45. By the time it was over, Covington had completed six takedowns, connected with 218 total strikes and amassed more than 16 minutes of control time. It was a familiar recipe for the onetime NCAA All-American. Masvidal staggered his rival with a right hand in the fourth round but proved ineffective otherwise and spent the majority of his time and effort trying to find a way back to his feet after being taken down. Covington was at his best in Round 5, where he took down “Gamebred” twice, outlanded him by a 65-2 margin and torpedoed any thought of a potential rally.