Colby Covington vs Chris Weidman: All-American vs All-American

More than almost anybody, two men in the UFC are synonymous for sporting the American flag Chris Weidman and Colby Covington. People may know them best now for their work in the cage but long before Covington was “Chaos” and Weidman was “The All-American” both men were All-Americans.

Donning the Oregon State singlet in college, Covington qualified for the NCAA National Tournament in his junior season before placing fifth in the nation in 2011 as a senior, defeating Virginia’s Christopher Henrich by the score of 3-2.

Covington’s cardio has always been one of his most effective weapons and this began on the wrestling mat. Briefly spending time in the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling room, his motor and aggression made him one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the nation. Perfectly on display throughout his entire collegiate career, he wrestled the full seven minutes pressuring, re-attacking and forcing opponents to defend.

These intangibles matched up with elite top control earned him a JuCo National Title before finishing his NCAA career on the podium.

Standing opposite Covington at RAF09, Chris Weidman had a very similar path. Finishing his JuCo career as a two-time All-American, Weidman would transfer to Hofstra University where he would pull in two NCAA All-American trophies, including a third place finish in 2007.

Almost exactly opposite of Covington, Weidman paved his road to the podium with extremely clean fundamentals, positional perfection and a very well-rounded offensive game. He wasn’t going to machine gun opponents to death like Covington, but he made the most of every attack and rarely wasted attacks.

Since graduating, Covington’s cardio game has somehow leveled up. His pace will go down as one of the most smothering in MMA history and was a key factor in his RAF debut where he defeated former UFC Champion Luke Rockhold by the score of 12-0. Covington had no problems striking but some of the most feared grapplers in the division did everything in their power to keep fights with him on the feet and for good reason.

Where Weidman is most known for what he did with his fists, he’s spent the last decade plus becoming one of the most balanced grapplers out there, coupling his All-American Wrestling pedigree with a BJJ black belt from Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie. Regardless of the endeavor, Weidman perfects mechanics and can always fall back on a solid base of fundamentals.

To overcome Weidman’s discipline and base of skill, Covington will need to make the match a war of pace. It’s no secret this will be one of the biggest points of emphasis for Covington. Few people in any sport have had the stamina necessary to stay sharp against him for the duration of competition.

He’ll also need to win hand fights early. Covington’s path starts with ties. If he can control wrists and head position he can thwart Weidman’s ability to get clean shots which is crucial with Weidman’s success rate on offense.

For Weidman, striking first gives him an extreme advantage. With his accurate offense and Covington’s constant pressure and pace, should Weidman get him on his heels early, Covington will be forced to force offense and attack more often, leaving himself exposed. Even something as simple as forcing step-outs early changes Covington’s gameplan.

Can Weidman use Covington’s motor against him or will Covington smother another challenger? Find out Saturday, May 30 at RAF09 ONLY on FOX Nation!