Despite the little stunt that Colby Covington pulled Friday, the former interim champion is indeed the next challenger for the welterweight title.
Kamaru Usman shocked the world at UFC 235 by not only winning, but dominating his fight against Tyron Woodley at Saturday’s event. Usman would successfully capture the belt through unanimous decision, though it was never a question of who won in the end.
After the Usman victory, several spectators noticed Dana White going over to Covington and briefly having a discussion with the controversial figure. Below is the UFC President’s response on what he told the former interim champion after the welterweight bout:
“There was a lot of ruckus going on over there in his area,” the UFC president explained at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“He almost got into it with mama Woodley at one point and everything else. That was like the third time I’d gone over to him that night.
“So I just told him, ‘Listen, you’re going to get this title shot. Don’t f*ck this up. Just relax. You and all your guys relax. If anything goes down, let our people handle it, and we’re going to take you in the back in a little while here and do some interviews.’ That’s all I said to him.”
When asked if that meant Covington was the next challenger for the welterweight title, White gave a straight forward answer,
“Yeah”. Covington was originally set to be the next challenger for Woodley’s title at UFC 235, since he captured the interim welterweight title in a June 2018 victory over Rafael dos Anjos; however, the UFC ultimately decided to go with Usman instead.