Colby Covington

Colby Covington is a famous American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion, and since August 2022 has been listed as #2 in the UFC welterweight rankings. To date, he has managed to accumulate an impressive record of 17 wins and just 3 losses.

Born in Clovis in California, Covington and his family moved to Oregon when he was eight years old. He lettered all four years as a wrestler at Thurston High School and won the 171 lb state championship as a senior in 2006. He later went to Iowa Central Community College, where he won the 2007 165 lb national junior college wrestling title as a true freshman with a 34–0 record. Covington transferred to the wrestling program at the University of Iowa, where he qualified for the NCAA tournament twice and earned All-American honors. After completing his collegiate wrestling career in 2011, Covington was recruited by Dan Lambert to American Top Team to improve the gym’s wrestling talent. He began his professional career and compiled a record of 5–0 before signing with the UFC in the summer of 2014. Covington won his promotional debut against Anying Wang in August 2014, at UFC Fight Night 48, via TKO in the first round. He won his next two fights against Wagner Silva and Mike Pyle, both via submission and unanimous decision, respectively.

Since joining the UFC, Covington has truly made a name for himself, winning against big names such as Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, securing a Fight of the Night award on two occasions. He realised his UFC dream after winning the interim title at UFC 225 after defeating dos Anjos. A huge personality both in and out of the octagon, Covington boasts over a million followers on Instagram.