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Colby Covington has accused the UFC of freezing out fighters who don't accept the fights offered to them. Covington claims that the UFC lawyer, Hunter Campbell, dictates fight choices and has always disliked him.
Speaking on a livestream with Neon, Covington described the pressure he feels from the UFC to accept fights even if he doesn't agree with the terms. He said that fighters in the UFC don’t have much control over their careers.
Covington's Claims Against the UFC
'Chaos' also claimed that if a fighter turns down a fight, the UFC can “freeze” them out by not offering matches for long periods, effectively stopping them from earning money.
You have no say. Hunter Campbell who is like the UFC lawyer, he kind of just tells you what direction they’re gonna go and it’s either you take it or leave it so you don’t really get a choice what you want to do."
“They just leave you and ice you, they won’t give you fights, they’ll let you just sit out and say, ‘Hey, you turned down this fight, now you’re not gonna fight for the year, we’re not gonna make money’, they just freeze you out.
He added:
You’re forced, even if it’s not a good move and you don’t think you’re getting paid what you deserve it doesn’t matter, they say either accept it and be a company man, or we’ll ice you and you don’t get to make money
Fighters Remain Hush
Covington also claimed that the UFC blocked him from fighting Arman Tsarukyan. He stated that fighters with large platforms are paid well and won't speak out against the UFC.
The thing is, those guys that would make the biggest influence, that have the biggest platforms like Ilia (Topuria), (Islam) Makhachev, Khabib (Nurmagomedov), those guys are getting paid so well that they’re never gonna speak out against the UFC.
“Those guys are making $5 million a fight. $5 million to $10 million.
According to Bo Nickal, the UFC offered Covington a middleweight fight for UFC Freedom 250 at the White House as an ultimatum, but he declined it.
The former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion has been inactive in the UFC for over 15 months. His last UFC fight was a loss to Joaquin Buckley on December 14, 2024.
Colby Covington is scheduled to face Dillon Danis in a wrestling match (co-main event) at RAF 7 on March 28th, 2026, at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.