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Could welterweight star Colby Covington retire if he loses his title fight against Leon Edwards at UFC 296?
UFC veteran Matt Brown seems to think so.
Brown has never been a UFC champ, but he has 30 fights to his name in the promotion and has become one of the sport’s most influential voices.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Fighter vs. Writer podcast, he suggested that Covington’s title fight against Leon Edwards in December could be his last should he fail to win the belt.
“I have a hard time believing he’s going to continue fighting if he loses this fight, to be honest,” Brown said of Covington. “He just doesn’t come across as that kind of guy to me.
“He hasn’t fought for two years. He’s not built like me, where I love fighting, and if I lost 10 in a row, I’d still want to fight. He’s the kind of guy where I think he’s in there to get paid, get his money, stir up as much s*** as he can and get out. Nothing against that. I’m not saying that’s a wrong way to do it. Had I operated in that fashion, maybe I’d be living in a bigger home right now. It is what it is, but [this is his third title shot], and he hasn’t fought for two years.
“What would he even do after this if he were to lose again? He’s got a murderer’s row coming up.”
Covington, 35, first fought for the title in December of 2019. He lost that fight to then champion Kamaru Usman via TKO.
The two fought again in November of 2021, and again Usman came out on top. This time via decision.
Now Covington finds himself with a third shot at the belt. Albeit with a new opponent. And Brown says this could be the time he gets the job done.
“We’ve seen Colby fight enough – we know he’s got a good shot here,” he said. “This is a very winnable fight for him, to be honest.
“But Leon is just one of those guys that just f****** knows how to pull a f****** fight out. With what we’ve seen with the [Kamaru] Usman [fights]. He just seems always find a way to get it done. But I do think Colby’s a bad matchup for him. This is going to be real interesting.”