The UFC welterweight division was turned upside down over the weekend at UFC 235, as Kamaru Usman completely ruled Tyron Woodley to become the new titleholder in 170lbs. The chances had Usman recorded as a significant underdog, but he proved the chances wrong as he completely dominated the battle from bell to bell and became the new UFC welterweight champion. And now, we understand exactly what the next challenge is going to be to your new champ.
According to UFC president Dana White, Usman will not make his first title defense in a rematch against Woodley. Instead, Usman will take on former interim champ Colby Covington next. Over the weekend video emerged of Covington monitoring down White at a Las Vegas casino and demanding a title shot. According to both Covington and White, once the cameras were turned off they had a fantastic discussion as grown men, and made amends to their public spat over Covington maybe not having the title shot against Woodley.
White states that Covington will now take on Usman, and it is likely this fight will occur sometime in the summer, perhaps at International Fight intersection this July in Las Vegas, or maybe about the UFC’s pay-per-view card in Chicago in August. Usman didn’t take any damage at all from the Woodley struggle, and Covington is healthy too, so the UFC should have no problem getting this battle booked as soon as possible. Contemplating how stagnant the welterweight division was at times when Woodley was the champ, it is going to be nice to see Usman keep on a busy schedule as champ. At his current pace, he will hopefully fight three occasions this year.
So far as the Usman vs. Covington struggle goes, it promises to get enormous marketing leading up to it as both men are excellent talkers in the media. As for the matchup itself, it is a battle between two of the best wrestlers in 170lbs. If you’d asked me to line this fight one year ago, I would have contributed Covington a slight nod. But after seeing what Usman didn’t Woodley, you definitely need to see Usman recorded as a sizeable favorite. At this point, I believe that the oddsmakers would have to open up Usman as at least a 2-to-1 favorite, if not more. What he did Woodley was absolutely pure domination, as fantastic as Covington has been himself at the UFC,” Usman has looked even better.
UFC Requires Jones vs. Santos Next
White said the UFC wants to reserve Jon Jones against Thiago Santos for the UFC light heavyweight title. Jones had a small scare in his struggle against Anthony Smith as he nearly lost his belt due by DQ because of an illegal knee using a downed opponent, however he ended up winning a lopsided decision at the end of their five rounds. When asked by reporters if Jones could fight Brock Lesnar next, White reported the UFC wants to book Santos against Jones. Santos is coming from a dazzling KO over Jan Blachowicz and has gone 3-0 as a light heavyweight, so he is more than deserving of combating Jones. Hopefully that fight is reserved soon, because Jones took no harm against Smith also it would be wonderful to see him stay on a busy scheduled in 2019 and fight a couple more times too.
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