The UFC welterweight division was turned upside down over the weekend in UFC 235, as Kamaru Usman absolutely dominated Tyron Woodley to become the new titleholder in 170lbs. The chances had Usman listed as a significant underdog, but he proved the chances wrong as he absolutely dominated the fight from bell to bell and became the new UFC welterweight champion. And today, we know what the next challenge is going to be for the new champ.
In accordance with UFC president Dana White, Usman will not make his initial title defense at a rematch against Woodley. Instead, Usman will take on former interim champ Colby Covington next. Over the weekend movie emerged of Covington tracking down White in a Las Vegas casino and demanding a title shot. In accordance with both Covington and White, after the cameras were switched off they had a good debate as grown men, and made amends to their public spat over Covington not getting the title shot against Woodley.
White states that Covington will now take on Usman, and it’s probably this fight will take place sometime in the summer, possibly at International Fight Week this July in Las Vegas, or maybe about the UFC’s pay-per-view card in Chicago in August. Usman did not take any damage at all from the Woodley fight, and Covington is healthful as well, therefore the UFC should have no trouble getting this battle booked whenever possible. Considering how stagnant the welterweight division was at times when Woodley was the champ, it will be wonderful to see Usman keep on a busy schedule as champ. At his current pace, he’ll hopefully fight three occasions this past year.
As far as the Usman vs. Covington struggle goes, it claims to have enormous marketing leading up to it since both guys are excellent talkers in the media. In terms of the matchup itself, it is a struggle between two of the greatest wrestlers in 170lbs. If you’d asked me to line this fight a year ago, I would have given Covington a slight nod. But after seeing what Usman didn’t Woodley, you definitely have to see Usman recorded as a sizeable favorite. At this point, I think that the oddsmakers would have to open up Usman as at least a 2-to-1 favorite, if not more. What he did to Woodley was absolutely pure domination, and as fantastic as Covington has been himself in the UFC, Usman has appeared even better.
UFC Requires Jones vs. Santos Next
Additionally, White reported the UFC would like to reserve Jon Jones against Thiago Santos for the UFC light heavyweight title. Jones had a bit of a scare in his struggle against Anthony Smith as he lost his belt caused by DQ due to an illegal knee of a downed opponent, but 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 book Santos against Jones. Santos is coming from a brilliant KO over Jan Blachowicz and has gone 3-0 as a light heavyweight, so he’s more than deserving of combating Jones. Hopefully that struggle is reserved soon, since Jones took no damage against Smith and it would be wonderful to see him stay on a busy scheduled in 2019 and fight a couple more times too.
Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.
Read more: newyork-info.com