Islam Makhachev may never fight again after using retirement as negotiation tactic says Colby Covington

Colby Covington believes Islam Makhachev might be trying to earn more money from the UFC.

Makhachev has received criticism for deciding not to return in January after previously making it clear that this was his plan.

In the aftermath of the announcement of an interim title fight taking place instead, Makhachev was surprisingly defended by Covington.

‘Chaos’ recently shared his thoughts on the comments made by the welterweight champion about his next bout being one of his last.

Makhachev's comments on why he isn't fighting at UFC 336 have rubbed fans up the wrong way.

Islam Makhachev said he doesn’t have many fights left when defending his decision to wait for one clear contender to emerge at welterweight.

It appears that this comment was misinterpreted by some, with the Russian saying it will be “one of the last” in his career and not categorically stating that his next outing will be the final one.

Colby Covington was asked in a recent interview what he makes of the 170-pound titleholder suggesting that we could only see him compete once more.

“He might not even ever fight again,” Covington replied when speaking to Submission Radio. “When you say a comment like that and you’re half-foot out, half-foot in, you probably should just leave now. You shouldn’t come back to the Octagon.”

‘Chaos’ went on to make the case that Makhachev could be letting fans know that he’s near the end of his career as a way to earn more money from the UFC.

Makhachev has previously spoken about extending his win streak record and needing to compete several more times in order to make it harder for anyone to ever break it.

Covington thinks that the champion could be openly talking about retirement to let the promotion know that he’s ready to walk away if he doesn’t get the right offer.

“Honestly, that’s probably a negotiation tactic, I’ll be honest,” he said. “Maybe that’s what he’s publicly negotiating with the UFC, like, ‘Hey, the next one’s going to be the last, retirement. But if you don’t give me enough money, I’ll just retire early.’”