Colby Covington has just offered UFC fans a rare glimpse of vulnerability. ESPN MMA recently uploaded part one of their 'UFC Journey: Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley' YouTube series to generate hype for UFC Tampa. In the video, Covington opened up on the aftermath of losing three UFC title fights.
The promotion's welterweight title scene was dominated by Covington at a certain point, with 'Chaos' getting three cracks at the divisional throne. Moreover, he only had to fight once after each loss to gain the next title shot. Unfortunately, he lost every single time and it has eaten him up inside.
"So, it'll be a year since my last fight. I've used that time to really grow myself as a martial artist and as a person. Mentally speaking, I'm in a better place [than] I've ever been. After I lost three shots at the undisputed title, it felt like the lowest of low. I lost and forgot who I was and that was a good reminder that woke me up again."
Covington, who is one of the biggest personalities on the roster, recognized that to better himself he had to learn to relinquish his more egotistical side to address his own shortcomings.
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"I just had to cancel out the bad energy and I knew that I couldn't let that hype and ego get to my head. I had to train harder to be the number one contender again, because all I wanted was to be the undisputed champion."
Check out Colby Covington's thoughts about his career trajectory (2:18):
Covington's first two welterweight title shots led to competitive bouts with his former rival Kamaru Usman. Their first outing at UFC 245 was a back-and-forth affair that ended with a controversial stoppage marred by claims of being too early as well as several back-of-the-head shots from Usman.
Their rematch at UFC 268 was similarly competitive, ending with a unanimous win for Usman. His third crack at welterweight gold, though, was Covington's worst performance ever, where he was outstruck and outwrestled by Leon Edwards at UFC 296.
Colby Covington is a former interim UFC champion
While Colby Covington has come up short every time he challenged for the undisputed welterweight title, he did manage to capture the interim welterweight belt in a bout with former lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos in June 2018 at UFC 225.
'Chaos' outworked the Brazilian with his bottomless gas tank and relentless wrestling, winning via unanimous decision.
Unfortunately, he was stripped of the title after a nasal surgery prevented him from facing then welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228.