Colby Covington shuts down retirement talk after UFC Tampa loss: “This is just the beginning for me”

Colby Covington believes he still has plenty left in his career after his loss at UFC Tampa.

Covington suffered a third-round doctor stoppage loss to Joaquin Buckley due to a nasty cut above his eye. It was Covington’s second straight loss and given he’s turning 37 in February, many wondered what the future would hold for him.

Yet, right after the fight, Colby Covington made it clear that he has plenty of fights left in him and says the best is just beginning.

“We’re going to be back stronger than ever,” Covington said on his YouTube channel. “This is just the beginning for me. I wasn’t at my best tonight. I came off the couch. But, it was for the company. I did this for the company that I love so much that changed my life, I know that there’s still a lot of fight in me and the best is yet to come.

“I was just getting warmed up in that fight, I think it was tied up 1-1,” Covington continued. “And, I was starting to wear on him, I could see him breathing out of his mouth, I was starting to catch him with more shots. So, it’s unfortunate that they stopped it. Even Dana came out and said if that was in Vegas, that would have never been stopped, so I took his hardest shots and they weren’t nothing. They didn’t faze me at all. I was walking right down. So we’ll come back stronger.”

Despite losing back-to-back fights, Colby Covington has plenty of confidence that he will be able to get back on track and go on another run to the title.

Colby Covington disagrees with doctor stoppage

Colby Covington didn’t think the doctor should have stopped his UFC Tampa fight against Joaquin Buckley.

Despite the blood going in Covington’s eye, he felt like he still could fight and called the stoppage bullshit.

“That’s what I’m going to say, too,” Covington said. “Bullshit. It was building, a five-round fight.”

Covington is now 17-5 as a pro and is 2-4 in his last six. He’s 12-5 in the UFC.