That night, Covington fell to Joaquin Buckley (21-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC) by TKO in the third round, suffering a cut above his eye that forced the fight doctor to stop the bout. His break from competition ended this weekend.
Luckily for Colby Covington fans, his hiatus from competition ended in a win last weekend. Saturday night, in a “home match” for Covington, he took the mat at Real American Freestyle in Sunrise, FL.
Embed from Getty Images
Colby Covington defeated Technical Fall’s Rockhold
In the main event of Real American Freestyle’s RAF 05, shown on the FOX Nation streaming platform, Covington met fellow UFC stalwart Luke Rockhold on the mat. “Chaos” used his NCAA All-American wrestling skills to advantage, defeating Rockhold by technical fall in the second round by a final score of 12-0.
After the main event, Covington met backstage with “The Schmo” to give his opinion on how the evening went Saturday evening.
“I feel like a million bucks right now,” Colby Covington began. “I’m doing great. Shoutout to South Florida. They came out and showed themselves tonight. It was a great event, man. I’m super happy with the event and I’m super excited to see what’s next in the RAF.”
Covington also said he is keeping his options open when it comes to his next martial arts appearance.
“You’re going to see me soon, you know,” he said. “[I’ve] definitely talked to [UFC CEO] Dana [White] about the UFC White House card so hopefully it happens but I’m going to use the next few RAF matches as training camp to prepare for my next fight [in MMA.]
Colby Covington, who is interested in becoming the newest member of the UFC’s middleweight division in the near future, is among a laundry list of fighters in the UFC who have at one time or another pushed for a spot on the June 13 card on the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., being held to commemorate the 80th birthday of U.S. President Donald Trump. Conor McGregor was one of the first to throw his hat in the proverbial ring for the show, and he recently took to social media to challenge Floyd Mayweather to a rematch in the Octagon.
Colby Covington stays true to form during post-fight press conference
Immediately after RAF 05 Saturday night, Colby Covington took the stage for the post-fight press conference. As is often the case, those in the media room need to be sure to have their audio recorders running when ‘Chaos’ gets on the mic, as it can get explosive.
Preceding RAF 05 on Saturday was the intended co-main event of the evening postponed at the morning weighing. Yoel Romero, who was supposed to face Bo Nickal last weekend, missed weight, causing Nickal to refuse to participate in the scheduled match.
Following the postponement of the match, RAF elevated Bo Nickal to light heavyweight champion. If Colby Covington gets his way, regardless of discipline, his next match won’t be against Nickal.
“The quitter, Bo Nickles?” he pondered. ‘I’ll call him Bozo Nickels. He failed the RAF in the last battle against Yoel. He saved this one. He quit in his last fight. Actually, I would like to apologize to Reinier de Ridder for calling him a Dutch kickboxer. My bad, he’s actually a grappler. A grappler made Bo quit in the Octagon, so Bo is a quitter. I don’t have time for quitters. He can get in line because there is a long list of people who want to fight me in the RAF.”
The de Ridder fight that Colby Covington was referring to took place on the night of May 3 last year in Des Moines, IA. de Ridder finished Bo Nickal that spring evening in the second round with a knee to the body.
Since that defeat, he has returned to the win column in his last two appearances in combat sports, despite the discipline.
Colby Covington’s comments continue
His verbal takedown of Bo Nickal didn’t end there.
“I want guys that are reliable, guys that are business people,” Colby Covington continued. “You know, I love RAF. RAF, Real American Freestyle, is the future of wrestling, so I want guys who are reliable and who I know will show up. Bozo Nickles is not that guy.”
Final thoughts
Colby Covington had not tasted victory since 2022 prior to his appearance in RAF 05. Whether or not the victory over Luke Rockhold will serve as a stepping stone to an ongoing winning streak in the combat sports remains to be seen.
However, there is one certainty: regardless of discipline, when “Chaos” is on edge, he is a man who is a lot of fun to watch.
#Colby #Covington #viciously #denies #Nickal #January