Colby Covington’s loss to Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa may very well have given us a decisive observation. ‘Chaos’ is over the hill now! After all, the former interim champ has looked uncompetitive in his past couple of fights. This was understandable in his UFC 296 clash against Leon Edwards, since ‘Chaos’ was fighting the then-champion. But (then) #9 ranked Buckley dominating him so badly that the doctor had to step in and declare Covington just couldn’t fight anymore is far less excusable.

It has indicated that Covington cannot compete with the top guys in the division anymore, according to UFC veteran Josh ‘Punk’ Thomson. “I don’t see the eliteness out of Colby Covington anymore,” Thomson told co-host ‘Big’ John McCarthy on their ‘Weighing In Podcast’. “And people were trashing on him,” ‘Punk’ continued, giving ‘Chaos’ his flowers before proceeding to criticize him.

“I am not a Colby Covington fan when it comes to his trash talk and his schtick and all that, I’m not, okay? I think it’s [Colby’s theatrics and shenanigans are] great for the promotion, I think it’s great for the sport all those things. I’m not a fan of that stuff because my era didn’t do a lot of that, right.” the former UFC lightweight added.

Thomson, of course, was active during the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s with the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Donald Cerrone, and Frankie Edgar, who were ‘let’s just fight’ kind of guys and didn’t believe in trash talk. However, the veteran was glad to see the change in attitude with guys like Chael Sonnen, Conor McGregor, and Covington making it part of their repertoire which was ultimately good for the sport. However, Thomson just feels that the Clovis native isn’t good enough to back up his trash talk anymore.

“Colby, Chael they reinvented it all, you know, Conor they reinvented how to get more clicks. Great, good for them. I think it’s wonderful for the sport. Just the eliteness though, it came and went with him [Colby],” he added. But the fact that people even expect Covington to remain at the same championship level even as he ages, according to Thomson, is because of one man.

Josh Thomson reveals why Colby Covington is no Randy Couture

Josh Thomson feels that wrestlers especially have a hard time staying at an elite level with age. After all, with time, it gets more and more difficult to take guys down, which affects fighters’ cardio and reflexes, all of which are essential for the chain-wrestling style of fighting that Covington has. “And I have a tendency to believe that when you are a wrestler it comes and goes a little bit faster,” said Thomson.

And the blame for grapplers thinking they could still perform at an elite level even as they get longer in the tooth, according to Thomson, rests squarely on former two-division UFC champion Randy Couture’s shoulders. “F***ing Randy Couture f***ed it up for everyone,” Thomson added, half-jokingly.

‘Captain America’, of course, was a freak, and defended his heavyweight title at the age of 45, in 2008 which is a record that stands to this day. It is not hard to see how fans and even other fighters saw ‘The Natural’ fighting at an elite level, and thought other wrestlers could do it too. However, with Covington’s remarkable downward slide at the age of 36, that isn’t true, as Thomson pointed out. What do you think about Josh Thomson’s take on Colby Covignton’s eliteness?