The Big Picture: Colby Covington Knows What He’s Doing

[JayPettryMMA]

BY ERIC STINTON
AUG 5, 2019

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

* * *
Colby Covington is perhaps the greatest Rorschach test in the Ultimate Fighting Championship today. Fans of his see him as a Making America Great Again patriot dunking on the nerds and virgins of the world; detractors see him as a corny caricature who thinks being annoying is the same as being alpha. Some love him for his toughness and tenacity in the cage, while others loathe him for his inability to finish fights. Regardless, people seem to love and hate him for the same reasons, and whatever you think of him probably says a lot more about you than it does about him.

This gives Covington a veneer of complexity, but in reality, he’s one of the most straightforward and simple fighters to understand. He’s an astute observer of what makes fighters successful, both in and out of the cage, and he has dedicated himself to realizing those traits to the fullness of his potential.

Speaking purely in competitive terms, there is no denying Covington’s success. After his sole career loss in 2015, he has since gone on a tear, winning seven consecutive fights in increasingly dominant fashion against increasingly tougher opposition. It’s not just the results that are important, though; it’s how he has won. Covington began his career as a gritty wrestler -- he was an All-American and Pac-10 champion at Oregon State University -- and that’s still the base of his game. Yet Covington uses his wrestling in a way that is trickier than meets the eye. Consider his win against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Covington went 10 for 18 on takedowns, yet had exactly zero guard passes, ground strikes or submission attempts. That’s worth consideration.

What Covington realized early on is that nearly all UFC champions, regardless of their skill set, have two things in common: pressure and volume. His takedowns enhance both. They sap the energy out of opponents and force them to move backwards, and all but the most advanced strikers in the sport still struggle to mount meaningful offense off of their back foot. Just as important, the threat of takedowns disrupts opponents’ rhythm, effectively freezing them in place and allowing Covington to throw endless barrages with little fear of counters. Against Lawler, his striking looked cleaner and more precise than ever, but on its own, it’s still not great. His defensive holes are mostly covered by the fact that his takedowns are an ever-present threat.


Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articl...ows-What-Hes-Doing-159633#qugob38hTkrSXTLW.99

 

[JOE QUEEF]

Don’t get worked into a shoot, brahs.

 

[CatchnShoot]

Zero guard passes, zero ground strikes, zero submission attempts,,,,,,what a boring POS.

 

[Stump]

I didnt watch the fight- did I read that correctly? ZERO guard passes, strikes or submission attempts?

I dont agree that having a problem with that is a reflection of me. That's essentially just Colby exploiting a loophole with no intention of actually finishing the fight , the real world equivalent to spamming jump kicks in a fighting video game.

 

[johnnyknuckles7]

the man has a point. He only started having a following once he became a full-on heel.

 

[ikite103]

He exhaust his opponents taking them down then they fight back up get hit 3-5 times and taken down again and its nonstop he mixes it up it flows

 

[Allizenalice76]

Actions speak louder than words.

 

[perplexed]

He is standing against ufc bullying, in the only way he could at the time, thats why i respect him. As a fan he has a less than friendly style he makes up for it with volume but still not fan friendly, so the ufc hate him and the things he says are the ufcs fault they begged ALL the fighters to DO A CONER at the ufc party a while back. the ufc did this not colby

 

[willy will]

He is standing against ufc bullying, in the only way he could at the time, thats why i respect him. As a fan he has a less than friendly style he makes up for it with volume but still not fan friendly, so the ufc hate him and the things he says are the ufcs fault they begged ALL the fighters to DO A CONER at the ufc party a while back. the ufc did this not colby

 

[SalvadorCollie]

the man has a point. He only started having a following once he became a full-on heel.

It worked for Chael, let’s see what Colby can do with it. He has a record that makes it more than just talk. Not a fan, but I don’t dislike him either.

 

[CloudDiver]

Hell Yeah !

 

[vladimirvlad]

not a fan of Colby especially after criticizing the referee for stopping his match vs Usman

 

[JohnMandick]

He was told he was going to be cut win or lose and so did what he needed. Says more about the UFC and the pink goof than anything else.

 

[Ubervice]

I'd rather keep my dignity mate

 

[XXXXXLPREDAT0R]

Lol

 

[CptJacuzzi]

Covington ride was fun. Title situation was annoying as fuck between him and marty. Alot of shit talking and not fighting for 8 months was getting on my nerves. But atleast they delivered when the fight finally came it was great.

I doubt Colby gets a rematch, it takes him like 6 months to sign a contract. Marty is a ducking ass bitch aswell, I don't think Jeorge can beat him sadly. He's hype rn because hes knocked out like 3 people already but when it comes down to the scorecard he always fuckin loses.

 

[IanPullman]

Lol

I couldn't say more exactly

 

[ColbyCov]

He exhaust his opponents taking them down then they fight back up get hit 3-5 times and taken down again and its nonstop he mixes it up it flows

Khabib does same, nobody complain about it, i agree with you, he flow is cool there is no transition from the striking to the grappling

 

[SakurabasEar]

Perhaps we can see colby return to a more grapple savy form against tyron. I dont want to see another grudge match with just striking.

Not that im disregarding woodley's wrestling. I just dont think he had as much success transitioning those skills into mma.

 

[vbjjbear]

View attachment 625823
BY ERIC STINTON
AUG 5, 2019

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

* * *
Colby Covington is perhaps the greatest Rorschach test in the Ultimate Fighting Championship today. Fans of his see him as a Making America Great Again patriot dunking on the nerds and virgins of the world; detractors see him as a corny caricature who thinks being annoying is the same as being alpha. Some love him for his toughness and tenacity in the cage, while others loathe him for his inability to finish fights. Regardless, people seem to love and hate him for the same reasons, and whatever you think of him probably says a lot more about you than it does about him.

This gives Covington a veneer of complexity, but in reality, he’s one of the most straightforward and simple fighters to understand. He’s an astute observer of what makes fighters successful, both in and out of the cage, and he has dedicated himself to realizing those traits to the fullness of his potential.

Speaking purely in competitive terms, there is no denying Covington’s success. After his sole career loss in 2015, he has since gone on a tear, winning seven consecutive fights in increasingly dominant fashion against increasingly tougher opposition. It’s not just the results that are important, though; it’s how he has won. Covington began his career as a gritty wrestler -- he was an All-American and Pac-10 champion at Oregon State University -- and that’s still the base of his game. Yet Covington uses his wrestling in a way that is trickier than meets the eye. Consider his win against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Covington went 10 for 18 on takedowns, yet had exactly zero guard passes, ground strikes or submission attempts. That’s worth consideration.

What Covington realized early on is that nearly all UFC champions, regardless of their skill set, have two things in common: pressure and volume. His takedowns enhance both. They sap the energy out of opponents and force them to move backwards, and all but the most advanced strikers in the sport still struggle to mount meaningful offense off of their back foot. Just as important, the threat of takedowns disrupts opponents’ rhythm, effectively freezing them in place and allowing Covington to throw endless barrages with little fear of counters. Against Lawler, his striking looked cleaner and more precise than ever, but on its own, it’s still not great. His defensive holes are mostly covered by the fact that his takedowns are an ever-present threat.


Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articl...ows-What-Hes-Doing-159633#qugob38hTkrSXTLW.99

Ahh, Colby Covington, the king of cringe!

But let's be real, the guy sells AND he fights. This is what McGregor should have become.