UFC Fighter Colby Covington Turns Out To Be Quite The Poker Player

UFC fighter Colby Covington won't just rough you up in the octagon. He'll empty your wallet at the poker table for good measure.

Covington entered the 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. According to PokerNews, the first tournament the UFC welterweight played was a $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em event. This event drew the largest field for a poker tournament in Florida state history, with nearly 8,000 players buying in.

Covington played his way through the field and earned a seat at the final table. That table was mostly comprised of professional players, but Covington still managed to finish the tournament in seventh place. For his troubles, he walked away with $48,295.

However, Covington wasn't finished. Later that week he entered another tournament — this time a $1,100 buy-in pot-limit Omaha/8 event — and won the whole thing. He took $25,875 which sent him home with over $70k for the week.

Covington's UFC record currently sits at 17-3 and his most recent fight was a tilt with Jorge Masvidal, which he won by unanimous decision. Covington's fighting career isn't showing signs of slowing down, but whenever he decides to hand 'em up, he looks to have a possible second career as a professional poker player.

In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that a UFC fighter would have a great poker face. Part of their job is looking intimidating. If Covington shot you the look he uses in stare-downs, most of us would probably fold with our hands trembling, even with a pair of aces.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.