Colby Covington hit a low point after falling short in his third attempt at undisputed UFC gold.
Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) hasn’t competed since a lackluster unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in their UFC 296 title fight last December. His first two attempts to become UFC champion ended in competitive losses to Kamaru Usman.
Now Covington will look to re-enter the title picture once again when he takes on streaking welterweight Joaquin Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 (ESPN2/ESPNews/ESPN+) headliner at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
“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,” Covington said on “UFC Journey.” “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 lows.
“I lost and forgot who I was, and that was a good reminder that woke me up again. 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 No. 1 contender again because all I ever wanted was to be the undisputed champion. That’s all I cared about.”
Covington’s third crack at the title, which came after a win over Jorge Masvidal, was perhaps his most disappointing one. That’s because the former interim champion was compromised early in the fight against Edwards.
“The first kick I threw, I broke it on his (Edwards’) elbow. It was compromised from the very first round, the very first 30 seconds of the fight, and I knew it was going to be a tough night for me,” Covington said. “With a broken foot in a big fight against a guy who wanted to take my head off, who’s probably the hardest fight I’ve ever had to endure, I know I’m so much better than that.
“Now it’s about coming back and giving the fans a real treat of who Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington is. People have tried to write me off, so now it’s about rewriting all those wrongs.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.
