{"id":244849,"date":"2026-05-23T17:10:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/i-dont-understand-why-kamaru-usman-gets-honest-about-colby-covington-leaving-the-ufc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T17:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:10:49","slug":"i-dont-understand-why-kamaru-usman-gets-honest-about-colby-covington-leaving-the-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/i-dont-understand-why-kamaru-usman-gets-honest-about-colby-covington-leaving-the-ufc\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand why&#8221; &#8211; Kamaru Usman gets honest about Colby Covington leaving the UFC\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5170787\" data-slug-id=\"2785773\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kamaru Usman recently shared his thoughts on Colby Covington&#8217;s decision to retire from the UFC.<\/p>\n<p>The UFC confirmed Covington&#8217;s official status as retired on the company website earlier this month. The former interim welterweight champion was one of the most well-known fighters on the UFC roster and was notorious for his outspoken personality. He was coming off a third-round TKO loss against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/joaquin-buckley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Joaquin Buckley<\/a> at UFC Tampa in December 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Covington was notably campaigning for a spot on the UFC White House card next month. However, the American was left out, and many theorized that it inspired his decision to retire from the promotion.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>In an episode of the <em>Pound 4 Pound<\/em> podcast, Usman didn&#8217;t agree with the narrative that Covington left the UFC due to being snubbed off the White House card and said:<\/p>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline top\" data-tab=\"top\">\n<p>Get the latest updates on One Championship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/one-championship-rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"top\">Rankings<\/a> at Sportskeeda and more<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s necessarily as deep as saying he&#8217;s [doing it] out of spite because of the White House card, I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s necessarily that deep. Honestly, the activity is much less, and he has expressed his willingness to want to get in there, to want to fight and be compensated the way he feels that is necessary.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He added:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of unhappiness, disgruntlement from not just Covington, but quite a few different athletes&#8230; For him, I don&#8217;t understand why [he retire], because let&#8217;s be honest, any fight Covington is going to be in is going to be a fight that you want to keep your eye on, because either you like him or you hate him, you want to see this guy.&#8221; [H\/t: <a href=\"https:\/\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ufc\/2026\/05\/22\/ufc-kamaru-usman-shocked-confused-colby-covington-retirement\/90211638007\/?taid=6a107efd2da3fe0001e0bd48&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=trueanthem&amp;utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">MMA Junkie<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Watch the full video below:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Colby Covington&#039;s UFC Departure, Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria, McGregor vs Holloway | Pound4Pound\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GAFhVmDnr2s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"GAFhVmDnr2s\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/GAFhVmDnr2s\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/GAFhVmDnr2s\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>When Colby Covington sounded off on UFC brass for White House card snub<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/colby-covington\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Colby Covington<\/a> expressed his frustration with the UFC leaving him out of the White House card. Covington also admitted that he thought he&#8217;d be a &#8220;shoo-in&#8221; for the event, given his outspoken support for POTUS Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with MMA Junkie, Covington got honest about his feelings about the matter and said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cYou&#8217;re the face that runs the place, Hunter [Campbell]. You make these decisions. If you don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m worthy of the White House card, then so be it. That&#8217;s your call.&#8217; I&#8217;ve accepted everything that they&#8217;ve given to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He added:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cI thought that I was a shoo-in for that spot. I&#8217;m the one that brought Trump into UFC back in 2018 when no one was supporting him. There wasn&#8217;t an athlete alive that was walking around Times Square supporting him like I was, wearing the MAGA hat in Times Square with my belt and going to media tours.\u201d [H\/t: <\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ufc\/2026\/03\/11\/colby-covington-bummed-ufc-white-house-snub-rips-piss-poor-card\/89099889007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">MMA Junkie<\/a><\/em><em>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Nishant Zende.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/news-i-understand-why-kamaru-usman-gets-honest-colby-covington-leaving-ufc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kamaru Usman recently shared his thoughts on Colby Covington&#8217;s decision to retire from the UFC. The UFC confirmed Covington&#8217;s official status as retired on the company website earlier this month. The former interim welterweight champion was one of the most well-known fighters on the UFC roster and was notorious for his outspoken personality. 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