The real reason behind Colby Covington’s UFC exit
Colby Covington has explained to fans why he decided to retire from the UFC. Most recently, news surfaced that Covington has decided to hang up his gloves. His last UFC fight was in 2024 against Joaquin Buckley, which “Chaos” lost by TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage.
In 2026, Covington wanted to be a part of the White House card and had even teased a move up to middleweight. However, he did not find a spot on the once-in-a-lifetime card. There was also talk that he would face Mike Malott, but the fight never materialized, even after Malott knocked out Gilbert Burns at UFC Winnipeg.
Many believe Covington has a strained relationship with the UFC brass, and the 38-year-old not getting fights as often as he wanted forced him to retire.
However, that was not the case. At least that is what Colby Covington says.
Colby Covington explains why he decided to retire from the UFC
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Colby Covington confessed he retired from the UFC so that he could join wrestling full-time. This year, under the Real American Freestyle banner, Covington has already scored wins over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis, and this weekend, he will return to the RAF mats against Chris Weidman.
Colby Covington has wanted to wrestle Arman Tsarukyan and several other UFC fighters who are also part of RAF. However, active UFC fighters are generally not allowed to compete against one another outside the promotion, which is why “Chaos” decided to retire to pursue bigger matchups in RAF.
He told Helwani:
“This is the next step in my combat sports career: to join wrestling full-time. This was just the proverbial red tape that needed to be handled to clear up the biggest and best matches in RAF. Now there are no limitations on who I can wrestle. I want to wrestle Arman, I want to wrestle [Khamzat], I want to wrestle Marty Usman — we have unfinished business.”
During the same interview, “Chaos” added that if he ever returns to MMA, it would for sure be under the UFC’s banner.
“I’ll always be a UFC fighter. If I come back to fight again, it will be in the UFC… I know I have a lot left in the tank. I know there’s a lot of good miles still left on the tread.”
Covington is thankful for what Dana White and Hunter Campbell have done for him and needs no retirement tribute video to feel special. He added:
“It was just a formality, and Hunter gave me his blessing. It’s all good. It’s all love… I didn’t need one of these crazy retirement packages, ‘Look at me and look at what I did.’ I didn’t need that… I’m just moving on to bigger and better things.”
Check out Colby Covington’s comments below:
