The Mystery of Colby Covington

The Mystery of Colby Covington

By James Lee

Colby Covington is one many fans can’t quite put their finger on. He the definition of somebody who forcefully ‘trash talks’ per se to boost his fighting status and surprisingly, it has worked.

Of course his skill has backed up the talking otherwise he wouldn’t be fighting for a world title, but with his fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 nearly approaching, this could be the perfect time for him to close the book on that staged part of his story.

Ultimately, his entertainment inside the octagon now doesn’t translate outside.
Maybe because every time he fights the stakes get higher, but for me, he is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport to watch with his non-stop pace.

There is never a cooling-in period to his fights. When he goes, he goes and the continual high pace is there for the full duration, whether that be 15 or 25 minutes. His last fight against Robbie Lawler was the perfect example of that.

Covington provided too much of a ruthless chaos for the former champion in a fight that secured him a title shot against Usman.

In the fight, he threw a UFC record amount of strikes at 541, which translates to 21.64 strikes thrown per minute and one every three seconds.

That is quite impressive considering a lot of the fight was spent against the cage and in the wrestling department, where he secured 10 takedowns in total.

It is uniquely intriguing to watch him, being almost a throwback to the old days of the sport with his heavy pressure and wrestling style, but currently there isn’t really anybody who fights like him in the UFC.

If anything, it is Usman who shares similar skills but even those two aren’t entirely the same.

Both will do nothing but consistently move forward and when the immovable forces collide, it will be interesting to see who deters first. Whoever does is likely to lose.

The fight similarly poses the age old question of whether strength and power is more effective than pressure and intensity

It seems very unlikely Usman will be able to keep Covington down for the majority of the 25 minutes. Then again, nobody expected him to do what he did to Tyron Woodley, but the counteract to that is Covington has never and will never slow down.

Usman does love to push the fight himself as well and has already proved he can go 25 minutes comfortably and there is obviously a reason he has won ten fights in the sport’s biggest promotion without a blip of failure.

The oddsmakers favour Usman but maybe, just maybe Covington’s chaos will be a nightmare for Kamaru Usman.

More importantly than this fight however and regardless of the result, this is the perfect time for Covington to drop his current shtick.

People care now regardless, but if he wins the belt on Saturday, then fans will have no choice but to care because he holds all the cards to the potential fights in the future.

His interviews this week have been a sign of change with him openly admitting his acting, so with the “secret” out, why continue?
Albeit his antics have become relatively amusing this week, the time to stop is now.
He reinvented himself into the character he is now so he can reinvent a second time.

As I said before, his fighting style is the most exciting thing about him, but it is unfortunately likely the mystery behind him continues well after UFC 245.