UFC Welterweight contender Colby Covington is arguably one of the most entertaining fighters to ever set foot inside the octagon. Covington has grabbed the attention of many fight fans with his unique personality. The ‘Chaos’ has very effectively embraced the role of a heel fighter in the UFC.
Colby Covington is a former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion and has been in the UFC for more than 7 years. Covington will be clashing against Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship in the main event of UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden. This will be a rematch between the duo.
Covington had challenged Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight gold at UFC 245 in December 2019. In what was one of the best welterweight title fights in promotional history, Covington lost in the fifth and final round via a technical knockout. The American fighter would be looking for a redemption when he faces Kamaru Usman for the second time at UFC 268.
Covington has to be one of the most controversial figures in the UFC. The trash talk and the ‘heel’ character gimmick of Covington has made him one of the most must-see fighters in the UFC. So now, let’s take a look at the fight purses of Covington throughout his UFC career.
Fight Purses of Colby Covington
The American fighter had made his UFC debut in the year 2014, where he was up against Anying Wang at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Le. Covington won his UFC debut by a technical knockout and earned a cheque of $16,000. In the second fight of his UFC career, Covington had submitted Wagner Silva via a rear-naked choke and took home a purse of $20,000.
Covington made his pay-per-view debut at the UFC 187, where he had locked heads with Mike Pyle. The fight went the full distance with Covington emerging as the winner. He secured a fight purse of $24,000 from the bout. Covington suffered his first loss in the UFC against Warlley Alves at UFC 194 and went home with a total earning of $20,500.
However, Covington went on a collision course after his first loss in the UFC. In his next two bouts, the ‘Chaos’ had finished the likes of Jonathan Meunier and Max Griffin and earned a fight purse of $38,500 and $47,000 respectively. Covington’s next victims were Bryan Barberena and Dong Hyun Kim, he won both the bouts via an unanimous decision and took home $59,000 and $71,000 respectively.
Biggest payday of Covington
The turnaround point of Covington’s career was when he fought Demian Maia in Brazil. He defeated Maia via an unanimous decision and gave the MMA world a glimpse of his new ‘heel’ persona. Covington had earned $83,000 from the Maia fight. He later squared off against Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship at UFC 225. Covington won the fight and became the new Interim champ, and took home a total earning of $380,000.
In his next fight, Covington gave one of the best performances of his career, by dominating Robbie Lawler for five straight rounds. He had earned a fight purse of $230,000. Covington next faced Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 245, and although Covington lost the bout, he had earned his biggest paycheck with a whopping $580,000.
Covington last fought against the former champ Tyron Woodley and came out victorious. He earned a cheque of $310,000 from the bout. As per reports, Covington has earned a total of $1,879,000 from his fight purses in UFC.