Matt Brown argues Colby Covington got by on trash talk more than his fights: 'He hasn't done anything elite for a long time'
12/17/2024 11:00 AM
Colby Covington fell to 2-4 in his past six appearances when a gruesome cut stopped a fight he was losing in lopsided fashion to Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa. It was actually his first loss in a non-title bout since 2015, but the always outspoken welterweight was granted his two most recent championship opportunities with wins over fighters with a combined 0-8 record across 16 recent fights.
While he scoffed at the stoppage in his first comments addressing the loss, Covington wasn't having the best night at the office regardless of how his fight ended. With his 37th birthday approaching in early 2025, it's possible Covington's latest loss may have signaled the end of his run as an elite welterweight.
Fellow UFC veteran Matt Brown argues that time probably passed long before Saturday night in Tampa.
"It's hard to argue he's really been elite for a while," Brown said on the newest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. "He hasn't done anything elite for a long time. I'm not even sure if the door was already closed. I thought this was kind of his chance to show that he is still an elite welterweight, and he didn't pass the test. I think that door might have already been closed is the only caveat to that. We'll see.
"I guess the question is whether he retires. It's not even whether he's an elite welterweight anymore. I think that answer's pretty clear. Is he going to stick around? Is he going to keep fighting? Because he's kind of lived off of his shtick more so than his performances, right?"
Prior to 2017, Covington was regarded as a solid prospect, but he didn't make much noise and later claimed the UFC told him he was potentially not going to be re-signed with his contract set to expire. So Covington altered his approach and continued winning fights but suddenly became one of the loudest trash-talkers in the game. He attacked opponents, their home countries, and even burned bridges with former training partners and teammates.
In recent years, Covington has become synonymous for his unflinching support of President-elect Donald Trump, which has almost become his identity as much as what he's done in his fight career. That earned him an invite to Trump's election night celebration but didn't help him deal with a young, hungry contender like Buckley this past Saturday night.
"There's different ways to build your name," Brown said. "Colby kind of went the Chael Sonnen route. Talk the shit, get out there and get people talking about you so get the numbers and that's how you earn the shot or you also have the Belal Muhammad route where he doesn't really talk a lot of shit or anything but he goes out there and performs. Colby did the talking route. I think that's probably what he'll be remembered for.
"Does he [still] have that hunger? I thought that answered the question last weekend. I did not see the hunger. He did not argue the doctor's stoppage. It just didn't look like he even wanted to be there, and he was like, 'Cool, I lost for a cut, that's better than a TKO or a knockout or a referee's stoppage and that's an easy way to make excuses about how I could have come back and won that fight.' It's unfortunate when those things start going through your mind. That's when you know it's time to stop."
Adding to Covington's woes after UFC Tampa is the fact he's been unable to capture gold in three past title fights offered to him.
While he did go to war with Kamaru Usman on two separate occasions, Covington's most recent title fight ended with him losing a fairly lopsided decision in a lackluster outing against Leon Edwards. He later revealed he suffered a broken foot early in the fight and then told reporters ahead of UFC Tampa he was also suffering from altitude sickness after training in high altitude played a part in his performance.
All those things may be true but Brown says the last time Covington won a fight and looked truly impressive doing it dates all the way back to 2019 and a whole lot has happened since then.
"The only one that I would say was about the fight was the Robbie Lawler fight," Brown said. "That Colby Covington looked like he could beat just about anybody that day. That was a great performance. Just the volume that he put on, the pace, the cardio, he looked amazing. Didn't really take any big shots that I remember or anything. But we only saw that once. That's the only time we saw him put on an amazing performance.
"I just wonder if he started to rely on his shtick a little bit too much and forgot about I've got to stay in the gym and train, and I've got to push that pace like that. It's kind of a tragedy because I thought he was a really great prospect. I thought he could have done some big things. I thought he could have put on some great fights with a lot of people, but my feeling, he just got caught up with his shtick too much and kind of relied on that."
Covington hasn't given any indication he's contemplating retirement, but there's also no telling when he'll be seen again. After losing to Edwards in December 2023, Covington didn't make his next appearance in the UFC until this past weekend for the fight against Buckley.
Brown can't say for certain if Covington can turn things around but based on his latest loss, it's tough for him to believe things are going to get much better moving forward.
"I hope the best for Colby," Brown said. "I hope that he comes back better. I hope he learns his lessons from this and comes back better. I hope that he gets back in the gym, trains hard, I think he's still got fights left in him, but he's got to crack down, get back in the gym, and train like he did when he was an up and comer because he was a threatening welterweight when was an up-and-comer."
