Former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington has a lot riding on the line in Tampa this weekend. Nearly a full year removed from his last appearance in the Octagon, Covington makes his return to competition to take on surging 170-lb. contender Joaquin Buckley in the main event at UFC on ESPN 63. The bout will serve as the final UFC fight of 2024 and stands as a must-win situation for the 36-year old “Chaos.”
Colby Covington Looks to Rebound Saturday Night
Stepping into the cage for the first time since putting a total lackluster performance against then champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296, Colby Covington finds himself in dire straits. The contest was the Floridian’s third title shot after suffering two back-to-back losses to Kamaru Usman from 2019 to 2021, making another run at the strap seem very unlikely.
It also doesn’t help that Covington’s relationship with his fellow fighters and fans has begun to wane in recent years due to his spotty activity, only competing just four times since 2020.
This is in supremely stark comparison to the man he will be sharing the spotlight with on Saturday, Joaquin Buckley, who has fought 15 times in the same time span. This run includes a stint at middleweight, where “New Mansa” went 5-4, with notable losses to Kevin Holland, Nassourdine Imavov, and Chris Curtis.
Making the jump down to welterweight in 2023, Buckley has since garnered a staggering amount of success, embarking on a five-fight win streak, including knockout victories over Andre Fialho, Vicente Luque, and Stephen Thompson. His upcoming match in Florida shall be his first ever main event showing.
Having flubbed his last three chances at snagging undisputed UFC gold, and staring down a younger and much hungrier opponent, Colby Covington’s time near the top of the division is seemingly hanging by a miniscule thread.
An Improved Colby Covington Heads Back to the Octagon
In a video made by ESPN covering the lead up to UFC Tampa titled “UFC Journey: Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley Part 1,” Covington went into a little more detail on how he rebuilt himself, and how he is in a much better head space since the Edwards loss. “It’s been a year since my last fight, and I’ve used that time to really grow myself as a martial artist and as a person,” he began. “Mentally speaking, I’m in a better place than I’ve ever been.”
However, the MMA Masters product also pointed out that the defeat left a lasting impact as well. “After I lost three shots at the undisputed title, it felt like the lowest of low,” Colby Covington recalled. “I lost and forgot who I was.”
Now almost a full calendar year since he dropped the ball, Colby Covington’s confidence has returned to him, and the main objective still has not changed.
“It was a good reminder that woke me up again”, he said. “I just had to cancel out the bad energy and couldn’t let the hype and ego get to my head. I had to train harder to become the No. 1 contender again because all I ever wanted was to be the undisputed champion. That’s all I cared about.”
