The Film Room: Colby Covington
UFC 225 is now available on Amazon Prime.
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contender Colby Covington will take on former lightweight king Rafael dos Anjos for the interim 170-pound crown Saturday at UFC 225. Covington exploded onto the scene three years ago with his brazen trash talk and incredible grappling ability. Just six years into his mixed martial arts training, he is already fighting for his first title in what could be the start of a dynasty.
Covington is a life-long wrestler and a former Division 1 All-American out of Oregon State, where he was a two-time PAC-10 conference champion. Before transferring to OSU, Covington wrestled for Iowa Central Community College and was roommates with future UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. After graduating in 2011, Covington went on to be a wrestling coach for American Top Team after being recruited by Dan Lambert. Covington then decided to train himself and went pro just a year later. Two years into his career, he joined the UFC, where he has amassed an impressive 8-1 record and earned a title shot.
Once on the ground, Covington can pass opponents’ guard like butter and control them from any position. An interesting aspect of his grappling game that might go unnoticed are these passing feints. Notice how he teases a pass to his left before quickly swinging his hips over and passing to side control on the right.
Covington gets some flak for his lack of urgency with strikes on the ground, resulting in a lot of unanimous decisions. Often, Covington will get his opponents in a dominant position they cannot escape, and instead of unloading with punches and elbows, he will throw half-power strikes that slowly chalk up points.
After spending the first two rounds breaking his foes’ spirit on the ground, he gets more aggressive in the third and looks for submissions. He usually tries to take the back and secure a rear-naked choke, but also has a few arm-triangle finishes on his résumé.
It is known that Covington has the grappling chops to dominate nearly anyone in the division, but the main area of concern for him is the lack of striking. He has improved a lot since joining the UFC, but often gets in a pattern of throwing spinning-back fists and wild hooks. He may never be an elite striker, but with such a dominant grappling game, he doesn't need to be.
Covington’s go-to combo is this overhand left to lead hook. Since the threat of his grappling is always there when he comes forward, most opponents look to evade rather than counter, which allows him to land this combo with ease. Although the technique is not there, he seems to find success with it in nealy all of his bouts. Will it work against an elite fighter like Dos Anjos?
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Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contender Colby Covington will take on former lightweight king Rafael dos Anjos for the interim 170-pound crown Saturday at UFC 225. Covington exploded onto the scene three years ago with his brazen trash talk and incredible grappling ability. Just six years into his mixed martial arts training, he is already fighting for his first title in what could be the start of a dynasty.
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Chaos Reigns
Covington is a life-long wrestler and a former Division 1 All-American out of Oregon State, where he was a two-time PAC-10 conference champion. Before transferring to OSU, Covington wrestled for Iowa Central Community College and was roommates with future UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. After graduating in 2011, Covington went on to be a wrestling coach for American Top Team after being recruited by Dan Lambert. Covington then decided to train himself and went pro just a year later. Two years into his career, he joined the UFC, where he has amassed an impressive 8-1 record and earned a title shot.
A lot of fighters come into the UFC with prominent wrestling
backgrounds and try to prove they are well rounded by striking with
opponents and rarely rely on what got them to the major leagues.
Olympic wrestlers like Henry
Cejudo and Yoel Romero
did just this and had success, but Covington takes no chances. Like
his last opponent, Demian Maia,
Covington knows his grappling ability is superior to most and bases
his game on getting the fight to the ground. Whether it’s shots
against the cage, trips from the clinch or double-legs from the
center of the Octagon, Covington has shown he can take his
opponents down at will and in a variety of ways.
Once on the ground, Covington can pass opponents’ guard like butter and control them from any position. An interesting aspect of his grappling game that might go unnoticed are these passing feints. Notice how he teases a pass to his left before quickly swinging his hips over and passing to side control on the right.
Covington gets some flak for his lack of urgency with strikes on the ground, resulting in a lot of unanimous decisions. Often, Covington will get his opponents in a dominant position they cannot escape, and instead of unloading with punches and elbows, he will throw half-power strikes that slowly chalk up points.
After spending the first two rounds breaking his foes’ spirit on the ground, he gets more aggressive in the third and looks for submissions. He usually tries to take the back and secure a rear-naked choke, but also has a few arm-triangle finishes on his résumé.
It is known that Covington has the grappling chops to dominate nearly anyone in the division, but the main area of concern for him is the lack of striking. He has improved a lot since joining the UFC, but often gets in a pattern of throwing spinning-back fists and wild hooks. He may never be an elite striker, but with such a dominant grappling game, he doesn't need to be.
Covington’s go-to combo is this overhand left to lead hook. Since the threat of his grappling is always there when he comes forward, most opponents look to evade rather than counter, which allows him to land this combo with ease. Although the technique is not there, he seems to find success with it in nealy all of his bouts. Will it work against an elite fighter like Dos Anjos?
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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