Dana White usually waits to decide who will fight for the welterweight title, but he made an unusual decision when he chose Colby Covington shortly after UFC 286. Why was Covington such a good pick?
White said at UFC San Antonio’s post-fight press conference that it was a no-brainer not to have fights right after fights. He explained the reason for this by saying that if Kamaru Usman never existed, Colby would have been champion of the fight for quite a while now. He further added that he cut weight and arrived on time to fill in the fight, as well as many other factors, which makes him deserves the fight.
Leon Edwards won his welterweight title for the second time in a row against former UFC champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 after winning the belt from Usman with a knock-out punch during their fifth round at UFC 278.
Covington has tried twice for the UFC Welterweight Championship, but he was not successful. He was knocked out at UFC 245 and then lost in a unanimous decision at UFC 268. Since December 2019, he has fought four times – winning against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, but losing to Usman twice. His last fight was in March 2022.
The UFC asked if they would give Covington a title shot even if Usman had won the belt at UFC 286. The answer was ‘Yes.’ However, since Usman lost, this situation will not happen.
When Dana White announced Edwards vs. Covington, a lot of people disagreed with it. People argued that despite having not competed in a while, Belal Muhammad had done great by winning nine fights in the welterweight division since April 2019.
White disagreed with the suggestion that Muhammad should be given a title shot more than Covington. He said that the UFC had plans for Muhammad, like to have him fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov – an upcoming fighter. White also didn’t think the UFC should wait for Gilbert Burns and Masvidal to battle in April 8 at UFC 287’s co-main event before making their decision.
Kamaru Edwards, the current UFC Welterweight Champion, and his team have expressed their opposition to Colby Covington being given a title shot. After winning his fight, Edwards said on The MMA Hour that he won’t let Covington be the next one to challenge him – which really irritated Covington. In response to Kamaru, UFC President Dana White made it clear that they have already decided who gets the title shot.
“Why wouldn’t Colby be allowed to fight? Can someone explain the reason for this?”, White asked.
Leon got badly injured when he was jumped and didn’t fight for two years. I’m not huge fan of Colby Covington but he deserves this chance to challenge the title. Leon couldn’t handle Usman twice and now he has to face someone with a special fighting style which is hard to deal with. Being champion means everyone will come after you.
“You face some of the toughest fighters three times a year. Usman had been a top fighter and he ran through his division twice, but now you have taken over – everyone is targeting you as their next opponent. The next one will be Colby! You’re the man, Leon! You’re the guy everyone wants to beat.”
