Kamaru Usman believes Colby Covington still had more fight left in him.
Covington’s status was changed from “active” to “retired” on the UFC’s official website earlier this week after he reportedly notified the promotion of his decision. The 38-year-old former interim welterweight champion hasn’t fought in the octagon since losing to Joaquin Buckley by doctor stoppage TKO in December 2024.
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An avid supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) was disappointed to not be included in the promotion’s UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House on June 14. While Henry Cejudo thinks that played a part in Covington’s decision to call it quits, Usman disagrees.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily as deep as saying he’s (doing it) out of spite because of the White House card, I don’t think it’s necessarily that deep,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Cejudo. “Honestly, the activity is much less, and he has expressed his willingness to want to get in there, to want to fight and be compensated the way he feels that is necessary.
“There’s a lot of unhappiness, disgruntlement from not just Covington, but quite a few different athletes. But Covington hasn’t been getting that frequency of activity – and not that he can’t compete, because we do know he can compete because he is competing at RAF, and he’s doing pretty well. There’s some type of disconnect between Covington and the UFC, and why they can’t get him in there or why isn’t he getting fights that he wants or just fights period.”
Usman defeated Covington twice in heated UFC welterweight title fights. Covington failed to capture the undisputed title in a third attempt against Leon Edwards but has now found a home with freestyle wrestling promotion RAF, where he’s 2-0 with wins over former UFC champion Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis. He meets Chris Weidman in the co-main event of RAF 09 on May 30 at College Park Center in Dallas.
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“Obviously I have a long history with Colby Covington, which is a really, really deep and connecting history,” Usman said. “So, for him, I don’t understand why (he retired), because let’s be honest: Any fight Covington is going to be in is going to be a fight that you want to keep your eye on, because either you like him or either you hate him, you want to see this guy.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kamaru Usman shocked, confused by Colby Covington’s UFC retirement
