Jon Anik: Inactivity hurts Colby Covington's UFC Hall of Fame chances
Jon Anik: Inactivity hurts Colby Covington's UFC Hall of Fame chances
Farah Hannoun, MMA JunkieWed, June 3, 2026 at 5:50 PM UTC
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Jon Anik: Inactivity hurts Colby Covington's UFC Hall of Fame chances
There's a pretty simple reason why Jon Anik doesn't believe Colby Covington belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Former interim welterweight champion Covington (17-5) recently announced his retirement from the UFC. He hasn't competed since a doctor's stoppage TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley in December 2024.
Covington said he definitely sees his resume as Hall of Fame worthy, but the UFC's play-by-play commentator disagrees.
"When Colby Covington beat Robbie Lawler August 3rd of 2019, that was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen," Anik said on his "Anik & Florian Podcast." "The mix of offense, takedowns, and strikes (was) otherworldly. At that point in time, though, he was not in defense of a belt. He had been stripped of his UFC interim welterweight championship due to injury, and then he never won the undisputed title.
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"And on the way out (he) competed once in 2020, once in 2021, once in 2022, once in 2023, once in 2024. Dana White is the entire voting body, and it's not always about the Hall of Fame. Covington and his third lung and his cardio and his MMA wrestling and everything else is absolutely fantastic. For me, maybe falls a little bit short of inclusion in the UFC Hall of Fame."
Covington was last in discussions to potentially compete at UFC Freedom 250, but he was left snubbed when a matchup never materialized. Bo Nickal claimed that Covington turned him down for the June 14 White House event, which Covington vehemently denied.
"I would imagine there was an opportunity to fight Bo Nickal on the South Lawn of the White House," Anik added on Covington. "And I think that does dovetail with a little bit of the inactivity over the last several years that does sort of play into his legacy – at least for me."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik: Colby Covington falls short of UFC Hall of Fame
Source: “AOL Sports”
