Highly Controversial Ex-UFC Champion Suddenly Retires

Fight fans seemingly either loved or hated Colby Covington - there was no in between.

The 38-year-old southpaw was no stranger to controversy during his time in the Octagon given his knack for trash talking and voicing his outspoken political beliefs.

He was also involved in a real-life beef with former fighter Jorge Masvidal, whom he got into a brawl with outside a Miami night club in March 2022, and fans felt he sometimes crossed the line with his trash talking before and after fights with Demian Maia, Robbie Lawler, Leon Edwards, and Kamaru Usman.

Covington (17-5) had fallen out of the title picture in recent years, and on Monday it seemed his UFC career quietly had come to an end after the company listed him as "retired" on its official web site.

Fans celebrated the Covington news on social media, with many taking shots at him over the way his career ended (losses in three of his last four fights).

"Should have been cut some time ago lol 😂," one fan cheered.

"See ya, ya clown. ✌🏼," another celebrated.

"He was clearly never gonna fight again. He has nothing left to give the MMA world. He's washed, he's been too inactive, he's not fun to watch fight and his gimmick is dead," a third fan exclaimed.

"What an absolute joke of a career this man had 😂😂😂 grown [expletive] man always tried so hard to not be himself and accomplished less than Jose Medina in the sport of MMA," one user scoffed.

"Hahahaha chaos Colby went out with a whimper," a second user quipped.

"Good riddance 🤡," another user replied.

"He's been on a retirement tour since Usman 2, this just makes it official. UFC finally took the trash out," one fan posted.

During his UFC career, Covington was the interim welterweight champion and a two-time Fight of the Night winner. He also had significant wins over Masvidal plus former UFC champions Tyron Woodley, Robbie Lawler, and Rafael dos Anjos.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 5:16 PM.