Colby Covington proved his worth after being stripped of UFC title with 541 strikes in Robbie Lawler domination
Colby Covington proved his worth after dominating Robbie Lawler in 2019. Covington takes on Joaquin Buckley on Sunday in Tampa, Florida, in the main event of the final UFC card of 2025. Covington has been a top welterweight contender for yearsGetty The American fighter has a point to prove after losing three of his last five fights. In all three he missed the chance to win the UFC Welterweight Championship – having previously been stripped of the Interim belt in 2019 just months after winning it. After claiming and then losing his belt, he bounced back in style in his next fight against Lawler, and will hope to rekindle that freighting form to end 2025 on a high before he eyes another shot at glory. Covington was on a six-fight win streak going into the bout with Lawler, having claimed the interim belt by defeating Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in June 2018. But Covington, 36, was stripped of the title as he needed to get nasal surgery on his nose following the victory over the Brazilian. Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who had been out for a year ,then returned to action and fought Liverpool‘s Darren Till. This was instead of Covington, in what was a bizarre set of circumstances for UFC standards, as President Dana White would usually wait for the interim contender to heal and challenge for the unified belt. Covington was then lined up for a fight against an ageing Robbie Lawler who, although is a former champion himself, was far past his better days. Lawler couldn’t stop Covington in round one, as the latter transitioned from single to double legs and dominated his opponent on the ground. It was a ridiculously fast-paced first five minutes, and by the time round two had came round, Covington’s pressure was relentless. Covington lost to Leon Edwards in his last boutGetty He had landed five out of his eight total takedowns and was overwhelming ‘Ruthless’ on the stand-up too. ‘Chaos’ would find himself in the same position over and over again, sucking Lawley to the cage and dragging him to the floor most of the time during his dominating start to the bout. Covington completed a lovely double leg at the start of round three as he made it nine total takedowns, aiming for his career high of 12 against Bryan Barberena in 2016. Lawler attempted to change the pace as the clock ticked on, but momentum wouldn’t swing in his favour as Covington was relentless. The Californian did hurt Covington a few times, but both men were so durable they were able to withstand one another’s big shots. Covington had landed 382 strikes with seven minutes left in the fight. Chaos has lost twice to Kamaru Usman for the welterweight tileGetty Images - Getty In the final round, Lawler knew he needed to KO Covington in order to win and attempted to unload on Covington, who did well to see out the contest. Bruce Buffer read out the judges scorecards after the tough 25-minutes, and all three scored it in favour of Covington: 50-44, 50-45, 50-45. Covington had landed ten of his attempted takedowns and threw a mind-boggling 541 strikes, of which he landed 201. It was a truly dominant performance from ‘Chaos’ compared to Lawler, who landed no takedowns and only 82 of a total 171 strikes. Covington had made it 15-1 in professional MMA and held the longest active welterweight win streak in the UFC with seven, only behind Leon Edwards and Kamura Usman – two men he would suffer defeats to in the future. Speaking to UFC commentator Jon Anik after the bout, he said: “Let’s talk about the lesson we learned tonight. “That Robbie should’ve learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes. “You stay off the tracks when the train’s coming through junior, [it] doesn’t matter if it’s the Trump train or the Colby train, get out the way.” Hughes was involved in a life-threatening accident and spent several weeks in a coma after his truck was hit by a train. Covington referred to those who criticised him for the comments as ‘snowflakes’.
Colby Covington proved his worth after dominating Robbie Lawler in 2019.
Covington takes on Joaquin Buckley on Sunday in Tampa, Florida, in the main event of the final UFC card of 2025.
The American fighter has a point to prove after losing three of his last five fights.
In all three he missed the chance to win the UFC Welterweight Championship – having previously been stripped of the Interim belt in 2019 just months after winning it.
After claiming and then losing his belt, he bounced back in style in his next fight against Lawler, and will hope to rekindle that freighting form to end 2025 on a high before he eyes another shot at glory.
Covington was on a six-fight win streak going into the bout with Lawler, having claimed the interim belt by defeating Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in June 2018.
But Covington, 36, was stripped of the title as he needed to get nasal surgery on his nose following the victory over the Brazilian.
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who had been out for a year ,then returned to action and fought Liverpool‘s Darren Till.
This was instead of Covington, in what was a bizarre set of circumstances for UFC standards, as President Dana White would usually wait for the interim contender to heal and challenge for the unified belt.
Covington was then lined up for a fight against an ageing Robbie Lawler who, although is a former champion himself, was far past his better days.
Lawler couldn’t stop Covington in round one, as the latter transitioned from single to double legs and dominated his opponent on the ground.
It was a ridiculously fast-paced first five minutes, and by the time round two had came round, Covington’s pressure was relentless.
He had landed five out of his eight total takedowns and was overwhelming ‘Ruthless’ on the stand-up too.
‘Chaos’ would find himself in the same position over and over again, sucking Lawley to the cage and dragging him to the floor most of the time during his dominating start to the bout.
Covington completed a lovely double leg at the start of round three as he made it nine total takedowns, aiming for his career high of 12 against Bryan Barberena in 2016.
Lawler attempted to change the pace as the clock ticked on, but momentum wouldn’t swing in his favour as Covington was relentless.
The Californian did hurt Covington a few times, but both men were so durable they were able to withstand one another’s big shots.
Covington had landed 382 strikes with seven minutes left in the fight.
In the final round, Lawler knew he needed to KO Covington in order to win and attempted to unload on Covington, who did well to see out the contest.
Bruce Buffer read out the judges scorecards after the tough 25-minutes, and all three scored it in favour of Covington: 50-44, 50-45, 50-45.
Covington had landed ten of his attempted takedowns and threw a mind-boggling 541 strikes, of which he landed 201.
It was a truly dominant performance from ‘Chaos’ compared to Lawler, who landed no takedowns and only 82 of a total 171 strikes.
Covington had made it 15-1 in professional MMA and held the longest active welterweight win streak in the UFC with seven, only behind Leon Edwards and Kamura Usman – two men he would suffer defeats to in the future.
Speaking to UFC commentator Jon Anik after the bout, he said: “Let’s talk about the lesson we learned tonight.
“That Robbie should’ve learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes.
“You stay off the tracks when the train’s coming through junior, [it] doesn’t matter if it’s the Trump train or the Colby train, get out the way.”
Hughes was involved in a life-threatening accident and spent several weeks in a coma after his truck was hit by a train.
Covington referred to those who criticised him for the comments as ‘snowflakes’.
