Colby Covington walks to the Octagon to fight Leon Edwards. Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesColby Covington's fighting future has never been more uncertain.
The trash-talking 35-year-old can fairly be called one of the best welterweights of the modern UFC era, but in his last matchup, a lopsided decision loss to reigning champion Leon Edwards, he put forth one of the worst fights of his career. He had some success with his wrestling in the championship rounds but otherwise looked completely disengaged, landing just 44 significant strikes during the 25-minute fight.
With his loss to Edwards, Covington is 2-3 in his last five fights, dating back nearly four years. His wins in that stretch came against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, both of whom entered the Octagon on losing streaks and were clearly nearing the ends of their careers.
At this point, Covington is way outside the welterweight title picture, and unless he mounts one of the most dramatic career comebacks ever in the back half of his 30s, which seems unlikely, he will never be the division's undisputed champion.
Still, he seems determined to continue fighting, and even in the twilight of his career, remains one of the biggest names in the UFC, due in large part to his controversial trash talk. That means that he can still expect some big fights, even if his days as a serious title threat are over.
It remains to be seen when Covington will step back into the Octagon—he tends to take long breaks between his fights—but here are four opponents we think make sense if he gets back in there soon.
ncG1vNJzZmianJqupLTEq6meqJ%2BnwW%2BvzqZmmqqknrCtsdJoaGlpYGl9eISMbWSbnaOperC8z6ilnqakqHqnu9Fmmqikkq56pLvVoqWgrJ%2BjwG66xLGrZp6ZnLW1