Dana White confirms Colby Covington next in line for Kamaru Usman

UFC president Dana White has confirmed Colby Covington is the No. 1 contender in the UFC welterweight division following a dominant victory over Robbie Lawler this past weekend.

Speaking to reporters following the Contender Series on Tuesday in Las Vegas, White said Colby Covington is next in line for a fight against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

“Yeah. That’s why I put Covington on ESPN against a guy like Lawler. You can say whatever you want about Covington, you don’t like him or whatever, but he put on a clinic against Lawler, who is a beast,” White said. “Lawler’s been all the big fights, former world champion, hits like a truck, and Colby completely shut hm down. His cardio was impressive, and the way he beat Lawler was even more impressive.

White continued the praise of “Chaos.”

“I thought Colby did a really good job of shutting Robbie down,” White said. “Kicks, punches, takedowns, he mixed it up. And his cardio was unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

White was non-committal to the Covington vs. Usman fight taking place at UFC 244 this November in New York as rumored. All he would say about that is “we’ll see.”

White was also asked about Jorge Masvidal, who has demanded either a title shot or a fight with Conor McGregor. It sounds like the UFC has other plans for Masvidal, perhaps pitting him against rival Leon Edwards.

“You can’t make ultimatums. We’re going to offer Masvidal a fight. If he accepts the fight he does, if he doesn’t he doesn’t,” White said.

The UFC president was then asked about Covington’s controversial post-fight remarks about Matt Hughes. Dana White didn’t seem to have a problem with the comments, chalking it up to Colby Covington embracing his role as a heel.

“I think it was very Colby,” White said. “It was typical Colby Covington.”

Do you agree that Colby Covington is next in line for a welterweight title shot?