Andrew Ravens
The UFC has removed Colby Covington from its official welterweight rankings, ending a tenure in the top 15 that dated back to 2017.
The latest edition of the 170-pound rankings, released Tuesday, sees Covington dropped from the list with Mike Malott and Yaroslav Amosov entering the top 15 in his place. The removal puts an end to a situation that had drawn criticism for years.
In January, UFC CEO Dana White acknowledged it was odd to have Covington still ranked — at the time sitting at number 14 — in one of the sport’s most competitive divisions, given his prolonged inactivity. Covington fought only once in each of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. His most recent outing was a TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley in December 2024, and his last victory came against the now-retired Jorge Masvidal in March 2022.
Covington shrugged off the criticism at the time, leaning into his public persona rather than engaging with the substance of the argument. “It really doesn’t matter what Dana White thinks of me,” Covington told reporters in January.
“I’m a world champion. I’m Donald Trump’s favorite fighter. I’m America’s champion. I’m the king of Miami. You can never take those titles away from me. Take me out of those rankings, but whatever, I’m still the biggest draw at welterweight. It makes no difference what number is next to my name. I know what I’m capable of, and I know I’m still the best fighter and wrestler on planet Earth.”
Despite his self-described status as Donald Trump’s favorite fighter, Covington failed to land a spot on UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, a card he had publicly campaigned for. He admitted being disappointed to miss out on the event, and there are currently no confirmed plans for his return to the octagon.
Covington has remained active outside the UFC, competing in Real American Freestyle earlier this year and defeating Dillon Danis by technical fall. He is expected to headline RAF 09 on May 30 in Dallas, giving him a competitive outlet while his UFC future remains in limbo. This should also give fight fans hope that the UFC will be quicker to remove inactive fighters from the rankings going forward.
