The UFC welterweight division was turned upside down on the weekend at UFC 235, as Kamaru Usman absolutely dominated Tyron Woodley to become the new titleholder at 170lbs. The chances had Usman recorded as a sizeable underdog, but he demonstrated the odds wrong as he completely dominated the battle from bell to bell and became the newest UFC welterweight champion. And today, we understand what the next challenge will be to your new champ.
In accordance with UFC president Dana White, Usman won’t 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 monitoring down White in a Las Vegas casino and demanding a title shot. In accordance with both Covington and White, once the cameras were switched off they had a fantastic discussion as grown men, and made amends for their public spat over Covington not having the title shot against Woodley.
White states that Covington will now take on Usman, and it is likely this struggle will take place sometime in the summer, perhaps at International Fight Week this July in Las Vegas, or maybe about the UFC’s pay-per-view card in Chicago in August. Usman didn’t take any harm whatsoever in the Woodley fight, 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 will be wonderful to see Usman keep on a hectic schedule as champ. At his current rate, he’ll hopefully struggle three occasions this past year.
So far as the Usman vs. Covington struggle goes, it promises to get tremendous marketing leading up to it as both men are excellent talkers in the media. As for the matchup itself, it’s a battle between two of the greatest wrestlers in 170lbs. If you had asked me to lineup this fight one year ago, I would have given Covington a slight nod. But after seeing what Usman didn’t Woodley, you definitely need to see Usman recorded as a sizeable favorite. Now, I believe the oddsmakers would have to open up Usman as at a 2-to-1 favorite, if not more. What he did Woodley was absolutely pure domination, and as fantastic as Covington was himself at the UFC, Usman has looked even better.
UFC Wants Jones vs. Santos Next
White reported the UFC wants to book Jon Jones against Thiago Santos for the UFC light heavyweight title next. Jones had a bit of a scare in his fight against Anthony Smith because he nearly lost his belt caused by DQ due to an illegal knee using 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 struggle Brock Lesnar next, White reported the UFC would like to reserve Santos from Jones. Santos is coming from a dazzling KO over Jan Blachowicz and has gone 3-0 as a light hearted, therefore he’s more than deserving of combating Jones. Hopefully this struggle is reserved shortly, since Jones took no damage against Smith also it would be nice to see him remain on a busy scheduled in 2019 and fight a few more times as well.
Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker is going to be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the hyperlinks.
Read more: coast2coastprospects.com