UFC313 – Pereira vs Ankalaev LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 8: UFC Fighter Colby Covington at UFC313 – Pereira vs Ankalaev at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Las Vegas, Nevada T-Mobile Arena LAS VEGAS, NV United States Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
Colby Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) will turn 38 years of age on Feb. 22. It’s been a long time since he last set foot inside the fabled Octagon. On Dec. 14, 2024, UFC Tampa served as the card where the one nicknamed “Chaos” would make his latest appearance.
Flanked by the late Hulk Hogan at his side and with the departed Hogan’s Real American theme song playing over the loudspeaker, Covington entered the Octagon for a five-round tussle on the headliner for the final card of 2024. It would prove to be a forgettable evening for Colby Covington, who sustained a cut above his eye in the third round of the fight.
The doctor intervened and stopped the fight to prevent any further compromise to Covington’s vision. Earlier this year, Colby Covington turned to freestyle wrestling in Real American Freestyle from Sunrise, FL. This time, his fortunes would improve.
His main event match at RAF 05 versus Luke Rockhold saw Colby Covington get his hand raised in victory by way of technical fall. As the early part of 2026 continues, there’s one card on the minds of more UFC mainstays than any other show.
Colby Covington Renews Interest in Fighting on UFC White House Card June 14
On the night of June 14, a one-off event, UFC White House, will take place on the lawn of The White House in Washington, DC. While UFC CEO Dana White has said that matchmaking for the card is complete in remarks made at Zuffa Boxing 03’s post-fight press conference late Sunday, he still isn’t saying which exact fights will take place during the show.
Covington is one of the fighters who’d like to partake in UFC White House at the backend of spring, having already expressed interest in squaring off on the card after his match at RAF 05. Recently, “Chaos” sat down for an interview with Valuetainment Comedy’s HotCakes and Hot Takes to talk about his prospects for the June 14 show.
“I’ve been negotiating with the UFC for The White House card,” Colby Covington began. “That’s the one [fight] that I want. I told them [that] this is important to my legacy and important to my career. This would be the biggest fight I’ve ever had. It’s a fight on the South Lawn [of The White House] in front of the president [and it] would be the greatest honor of my career.”
Could We See Colby Covington vs. Paddy Pimblett at UFC White House This June?
In late January, UFC 324 served as the first flagship event and first event proper on the UFC’s 2026 schedule. That night’s main event saw now-No. 6 contender Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) go down in defeat for the first time under the UFC promotional banner to current interim champion Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) by way of unanimous decision.
Colby Covington expressed his interest in battling “The Baddy” in the return contest for both men. In true Covington fashion, he held nothing back, talking about his personal appearance.
“I’d really like the fight with Paddy Pimblett,” he said. “He had shown interest that he might want to come up a weight class to welterweight. He’s cutting a lot of weight to get to 155. The kid weighs like, 200. He looks like (expletive deleted.) Even the doctors told him ‘Dude, your organs are going to fail if you keep cutting to lightweight.’”
Getting back to the potential fight itself, Covington mentioned that a contest against Pimblett is one that will harken back to the early history of the United States.
“I love that fight,” he said. “It’s a fight where it’s an American versus a British guy. I don’t want to fight an American guy on an American card on the 250th birthday of America.”
Final Thoughts
In the Jan. 10 RAF 05 post-fight press conference, Colby Covington mentioned that he didn’t want any part of fighting Bo Nickal in a UFC return contest, referring to him as Bozo Nickles. Early Sunday, Bo Nickal himself weighed-in on Covington’s interview via social media, simply saying “Man up and take your beating.”
Bo Nickal’s rebuttal aside, the potential contest between Colby Covington and Paddy Pimblett could get interesting. You’d have two veteran fighters coming in off of a loss and the latter would be competing at welterweight for the first time.
While nothing is locked in for UFC White House in less than four months, only time will tell if this fight comes to pass.