The UFC welterweight division was turned upside down on the weekend in UFC 235, as Kamaru Usman absolutely dominated Tyron Woodley to become the new titleholder at 170lbs. The chances had Usman listed as a sizeable underdog, but he proved the chances wrong as he absolutely dominated the battle from bell to bell and became the new UFC welterweight champion. And today, we know what the next challenge will be for the new champ.
In accordance with UFC president Dana White, Usman won’t make his first title defense in a rematch against Woodley. Rather, 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 have been turned off they had a fantastic debate as grown men, and made amends for their public spat over Covington not getting the title shot against Woodley.
White states that Covington will take on Usman, and it’s probably this fight will occur sometime in the summer, perhaps at International Fight Week this July in Las Vegas, or perhaps on the UFC’s pay-per-view card at Chicago in August. Usman didn’t take any damage whatsoever from the Woodley struggle, and Covington is healthy too, so the UFC should not have any problem getting this battle booked whenever possible. Contemplating how stagnant the welterweight division was times when Woodley was the champ, it is going to be wonderful to see Usman keep on a hectic schedule as champ. At his current rate, he’ll hopefully fight three occasions this year.
As far as the Usman vs. Covington struggle goes, it claims to get enormous promotion leading up to it as both men are excellent talkers in the media. In terms of the matchup itself, it is a battle between two of the best wrestlers in 170lbs. In the event that you had asked me to line this struggle a year ago, I would have contributed Covington a small nod. But after seeing what Usman didn’t Woodley, you definitely need to see Usman listed as a big favorite. Now, I believe the oddsmakers would have to open up Usman as at least a 2-to-1 favored, or more. What he did to Woodley was absolutely pure domination, and as fantastic as Covington has been himself at the UFC,” Usman has appeared even better.
UFC Requires Jones vs. Santos Next
Also, White reported the UFC wants to reserve Jon Jones contrary to Thiago Santos for the UFC light heavyweight title. Jones had a small scare in his fight against Anthony Smith as he nearly lost his belt due by DQ due to an illegal knee using a downed opponent, however he ended up winning a lopsided decision at the conclusion of the five rounds. When asked by reporters if Jones could fight Brock Lesnar next, White reported the UFC wants to reserve Santos from Jones. Santos is coming from a brilliant KO over Jan Blachowicz and has gone 3-0 as a light hearted, therefore he is more than deserving of combating Jones. Hopefully this fight is reserved soon, because Jones took no harm against Smith also it would be wonderful to see him remain on a busy scheduled in 2019 and fight a couple more times as well.
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