Rafael dos Anjos Believes Colby Covington’s Road Back to Octagon Could be a Long One

Following his devastating loss to Kamaru Usman earlier this month, Colby Covington said the MMA world hasn’t seen “nothing yet” from “Chaos”. But, Rafael dos Anjos believes the controversial fighter could have some big challenges ahead, on account of the broken jaw he sustained.

RDA comments on Covington’s broken jaw

Covington faced Usman in the headliner of the December 14th, UFC 245 card, and was stopped by the welterweight champ late in the final round. After the memorable bout, it was revealed that Covington had sustained a broken jaw earlier in the fight.

Well, following the event, Covington referred to the loss as “speed bumps” and relayed that his spirit “will never be broken”. According to dos Anjos, “Chaos” is going to need to be strong, as he recovers from his broken jaw. RDA broke his jaw during his 2010 bout with Clay Guida, and while taking to AG Fight recently, he had this to say about Covington (who defeated him via decision in June, 2018)(quotes via BJ Penn).

“Absolutely [a rematch against Colby matters for 2020]. I’ve had this injury too, I don’t know the severity, but you have to have a lot of head to come back. I hope he really fights back, doesn’t retire, because it’s an injury I’ve seen retire people out there. It’s something I don’t even want for my worst enemy. But let’s see.

“It’s six months to go back to training, I remember how I got. Six months is just to retrain. It took me about ten months to fight again, a year almost to fight again. But it sure is a fight that interests me. It was [in the fight against Clay Guida that I got hurt]. It was terrible, worse thing, I don’t wish for my worst enemy.”

Recovering from a broken jaw is a tough go for anyone, but when you’re career involves people trying to punch that jaw, it becomes that much more important. As a result, one would think Covington could be sidelined for a good portion of 2020.

Covington vs. RDA 2?

And in terms of dos Anios wanting to face Covington again, could that happen? Right now, it seems hard to imagine that fight taking place anytime soon. Although Covington is coming off a loss, RDA has dropped three of his last four and his last outing, he lost via decision to Leon Edwards. So, he’ll likely need to record a win or two before a rematch would make sense for Covington.