We need another brick in the Gaethje machine—bring me the wrestling machine!

Thought "free agency" meant a gym membership upgrade till I read the word Covington.

you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’ when they said free agency... 🔥 is this the move?! Colby with that venomous stare, that slick-talkin’ trash, could *this* be the welcome wagon we didn’t know we needed for the Gaethje train? 🚂💥 dude’s got the chin of a vault, the wrestling base that screams “try harder”, and the mouth that keeps you in the cage longer than planned... bring him in so Justin can paint the welterweight canvas red next time he’s up top

Age is the first thing that leaps out of the screen. Covington turns 35 in February—older than Justin was when he stepped into the welterweight division. For a welterweight whose best days have a time-stamp, you don’t sign a body who has to make weight every month and still chase finishes; you take the fighter who has one more three-year window on this contract. Ask Covington himself last time he fought; his gas tank emptied quicker than he’s emptied wallets in post-fight interviews. Justin thrives in four-minute rounds of explosions. Covington thrives in twelve when he can out-wrestle you into snooze mode. Those lanes don’t cross; they smash head-on. Then there’s the card, not the kid. Covington is one fight into a new four-fight deal with UFC after his decision win over Geoff Neal. Managers don’t hand these deals out like free fries unless there’s leverage and a roster depth chart sitting at their desk. The welterweight picture right now is chock-full of contenders who already have titles, interim or otherwise, in tow. Look at the top seven: Leon Edwards, Islam Makhachev, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad, Michael Morales, Khamzat Chimaev, Ian Machado Garry. That’s an embargo list seven names long. If the UFC wanted to slot Covington into a mandatory next, they’d have to wait for someone above him to run it up or cash out. Free agency doesn’t mean carte blanche; it means shop clearance where the tags are marked “as-is.” Good luck finding a taker at a premium. Even if the stars aligned and Dana whispered yes tomorrow, the welterweight block looks more like a pyramid than a train. The Gaethje machine needs a welterweight stalker who can run through a five-fight title eliminator path clean, not a hired gun who’s already lost to Usman and Burns before his 35th birthday. Covington’s style is built for pressure, not pace. Justin’s built for sprints that collapse lungs and wrestle minds. Two different engines, one gas can. So while the idea of Colby’s glare joining the team makes the cage posters go pink, reality paints it in quick-dry: costly, mismatched, and probably a bridge too far for the welterweight summit. Keep dreaming, but don’t bank on the free-agent fire sale at the welterweight pawn shop.

Gone are the days when a welterweight with a 28-3 record could just waltz into the top 5 and demand money—even if one of those losses was to Burns on a split. That’s why I’m not sold on Covington either. But then again, have we ever really needed another brick in the Gaethje machine? Justin’s got the power to make anyone forget their own name mid-fight, and I’ve seen it first-hand at the cage in Phoenix three years back—kid carried a 220lb frame like it was nothing and put a top-10 welter on his back in under a minute. So no, I don’t think Covington’s the piece. If we’re talking next-level stalkers, I’d take a hungry youngster with wrestling pedigree who hasn’t peaked yet—someone like Ian Machado Garry with a bit more mat work and less flash, or even that Khamzat kid when he stops running from grapplers.

you ever seen a free-agent signing fizzle out faster than a cheque from a promoter who forgot to sign it? remember how everyone was rubbing their hands over jon jones to tag team with dc at 205? or how the whole world gasped when the canelo deal got announced then evaporated like a morning dew under a phoenix sun? the welterweight scene's littered with these "almosts," and colby’s just the latest name getting the vegas treatment before reality steps in with the mop.