What’s going on with Colby Covington in 2025? James Lynch Breaks Down Potential Retirement
Did Colby Covington quietly retire from MMA?
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything from the former interim champion. Hell, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard Dana White mutter his name, leading some to suspect that ‘Chaos’ has already laid down his gloves and walked away from the fight game.
“Colby used to do regular hits on Submission Radio. … But over the years, he’s kind of decreased his interviews,” MMA journalist James Lynch said in video vis his YouTube channel. “In this interview, which he did in August, you can read the title here. He’s talking about at a celebrity poker tour, Colby Covington spoke to Helen Yee about poker, when he expects to return, wanting to fight Paddy Pimblett or Gilbert Burns. Paddy Pimblett’s a lightweight. Gilbert Burns has lost his last four fights. These are not serious call-outs. …
“I think, and something I’ll talk about in this video and I’ve talked about on my live streams, too: I think Colby’s retired. I don’t know why he hasn’t come out and said it. I don’t know what the reason is.”
Of course, Covington has never been accused of being an especially active fighter, but he would often make his presence felt with interviews and online content. But ever since his brutal loss against Joaquin Buckley late last year, it’s been radio silence from the Covington camp.
“Even when Colby was inactive over the last couple years, Dana White would at least bring up him in terms of things falling apart … We’re not even hearing the UFC or Dana White or anyone mention Colby at all,” Lynch added. “Colby’s just kind of quietly gone away. And what’s interesting is at the time of recording this, Colby Covington is still ranked number 11 in the division, but he hasn’t fought, and there’s been no indication that he’s coming back and going to fight anytime soon.”
Outside of the UFC, Covington has established himself as quite the poker player. According to Hendon Mob Poker Database, ‘Chaos’ has banked more than $360,000 in winnings from playing cards.
Covington has also appeared on the Celebrity Poker Tour, where he got into a hilarious back-and-forth with Henry Cejudo before an event.
“My understanding right now from just what I’ve seen and who I’ve talked to sort of in the industry is that Colby’s kind of just doing this poker thing, and I don’t think there’s any serious talks about him fighting,” Lynch said. “But my big question is why has he not come out and retired? He’s kind of just slowly drifted away. … And I wonder if we’re going to get an announcement here pretty soon. … There’s no signs of him fighting or coming back.”
Covington went 12-5 under the UFC banner, with his most notable victories coming against Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley, and Jorge Masvidal. In more recent years, ‘Chaos’ has struggled to find the win column, going 2-4 in his last six, including back-to-back losses against Leon Edwards and the aforementioned Joaquin Buckley.
