Colby Covington Retires from UFC to Join Pro Wrestling

Former UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has retired from mixed martial arts to pursue a full-time career in professional wrestling, though he acknowledges the possibility of a future return to the octagon. The 38-year-old fighter, a three-time title challenger, formally informed UFC executives of his decision last week, potentially concluding a 17-fight tenure with the promotion.

Covington stated that his primary motivation is to compete without restrictions in the Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling promotion, where he has already secured victories this year over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis. He is scheduled to wrestle former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman this weekend. Covington explained that active UFC fighters are generally prohibited from competing against one another outside the promotion, and retiring was necessary to facilitate the matchups he desires.

"This is the next step in my combat sports career to join wrestling full-time," Covington said in a recent interview. "This was just the proverbial red tape that needed to be handled to clear up the biggest and best matches in RAF. Now there are no limitations on who I can wrestle."