What’s Next For Colby Covington?

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC 245 went down from inside T-Mobile Arena last Saturday night (Dec. 14, 2019) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Max Holloway, who coughed up his Featherweight title to Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of the evening (see it). And Urijah Faber, who was knocked out by Petr Yan during their Bantamweight bout (highlights).

But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Colby Covington.

Going into his headlining bout against Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, Colby was looking to make a big statement to not only silence all his doubters, take out his bitter rival, but to score himself a big pay raise.

Accomplishing that feat would also give him bragging rights for days and more ammunition to add to his arsenal.

From the jump, Covington meant business, as he took it to Usman — who was more than willing to stand in the pocket and engage. Both men were content with striking it out on the feet, much to everyone’s delight as many expected the bout to be a grappling affair.

Early in the bout, Usman clipped Covington with a hard right that broke his jaw. Undeterred, “Chaos” sucked it up and kept his pace, not backing down one bit. Throughout the fight, both men exchanged strikes, mean mugs and words, providing fight fans with a highly-entertaining title fight.

With a minute remaining in the fight, Usman found his sweet spot and dropped Colby with well-placed bombs. Seeing blood, “The Nigerian Nightmare” pounced on his fallen foe until Marc Goddard put an end to the fight.

Much to the chagrin of Covington, of course.

”Normally people do their f**king in the bedroom, not the octagon, Marc Goddard!” Covington wrote on Twitter. “I go in there to kill or be killed. You robbed me of that. You robbed the people of a fair fight. You should be ashamed of yourself. Fake nut shot. Fake eye poke. Fake stoppage. Fake ref.”

The loss is Covington’s first in four years and just his second in his career. That said, it’s a crucial defeat to say the least as “Chaos” will have a long road back to the big dance, especially if he has to sit out a bit due to his injuries.

Still, the division needs someone like Colby that can pump life and drama into it. Don’t get me wrong, his shtick can get a little old, but let’s face it, he stole the headlines in the weeks leading up to the fight, which likely equated to more tickets and PPV’s being sold.

More importantly, though, the man can scrap and he can give any top 170-pounder in the world problems. Now, it just remains to be seen if he and Dana White can work out their differences to keep moving forward.

When Colby returns to action is unknown, as a broken jaw takes time to heal. For my money, I’d love to see a fight between Covington and Woodley. That said, “The Chosen One” will likely fight soon, just not in London. For now, Colby’s return is in limbo so we simply have to play the waiting game.

Unless Vince McMahon comes in with a sweet deal.

For complete UFC 245: “Usman vs. Covington” results and play-by-play, click HERE!