Overview
- Covington told the UFC he was retiring and was removed from the promotion’s roster, a step he describes as a procedural formality rather than being cut from the company.
- He says he remains under contract with the UFC, received UFC executive Hunter Campbell’s blessing to pursue RAF bouts, and left open a 50/50 chance of returning to MMA in the UFC.
- Covington has invested personal money in Real American Freestyle, holds two RAF wins, and is scheduled to face Chris Weidman at RAF 09 on May 30 in Arlington, Texas.
- He identified a list of active UFC stars he wants to wrestle — including Georges St‑Pierre, Arman Tsarukyan, Kamaru Usman, Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad — saying retirement cleared restrictions on those matchups.
- The move follows a stretch of reduced UFC activity and back‑to‑back losses, and it effectively ties his short‑term career to RAF while making any MMA return dependent on UFC contract status or a future release.