Colby Covington faced the latest big opportunity of his career at UFC 296. But now, after falling short in his third shot at an undisputed UFC title, questions are being raised over where he goes from here.
Covington ended a 651-day layoff to face Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 296, where he was effectively shut down by the defending welterweight champion in a bout that saw Edwards cruise to 49-46 scores on all three judges' scorecards.
Now, with Covington winless since March 2022 – his last three victories coming against fighters who have since retired – and holding no wins over any of the welterweight top 15, it's unclear where he ends up in the welterweight shuffle.
Now ranked fifth at 170 pounds, between Gilbert Burns and Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, it remains to be seen what Covington's next move will be, and one man has wondered aloud whether we may have seen the last of "Chaos" inside the Octagon.
Chatting with Jon Anik and Dominick Cruz in the UFC 296 post-fight show, Chael Sonnen debated the potential next fight for Covington, and responded to Anik's suggestion that "Chaos" fight undefeated contender Shavkat Rakhmonov in a main event title eliminator to re-establish his championship credentials.
"I love your suggestion of Rakhmonov," Sonnen said.
"I'm just not sure Dana will even make that suggestion to Colby. What I worry about is, will he take it? I don't know where his heart is at. To go up that mountain as many times as he did.
"Colby's career is a riddle. He's had three world title fights. He was an interim champion. He never lost. He woke up one day, he wasn't the interim champion. He fought the reigning 'BMF' champion, dominated him, and never became 'BMF' champion. I think that there's some real frustrations. I just don't know if he wants to start over – that's the hard truth. I don't know that we see Colby Covington again."
