Dana White Says Colby Covington Is Next For Kamaru Usman

If Kamaru Usman defeats Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night at UFC 261, the Nigerian Nightmare’s next opponent will be an all too familiar one: Colby Covington.

Speaking to reporters from TSN in Canada, UFC President Dana White said that Usman has already cleaned up his division and is at a point now where he’s coming back to do rematches. And after his rematch with Masvidal, it’s going to be a run back with Covington.

Said White:

“He’s at a point in his career now where he’s looking at who’s next again. He’s coming back and going to be facing guys that he already beat. Obviously, Masvidal took that fight on short notice so let’s give him this fight and we can do away with all the excuses. Then, Colby Covington’s next…Who knows. Anything can happen. Guys get injured, things happen, timing. Who knows, especially in this day and age but that should be the fight [with Colby Covington] that happens next.”

A Brutal Slugfest

Covington challenged Usman for the UFC welterweight title at the main event of UFC 245 in December 2019 in what was a brutal slugfest that deservedly earned Fight of the Night honors.

A BRUTAL SLUGFEST!

The UFC’s most hated man Colby Covington just had his jaw broken and then got TKO’d as Kamaru Usman retains at #UFC245 >>> https://t.co/QGjTuuXnfd pic.twitter.com/PYmx54nIHk

— FOXSportsAUS (@FOXSportsAUS) December 15, 2019

Known for his wrestling, Usman was expected to take Covington down and beat him up on the mat. But instead of doing that, Usman didn’t attempt a single takedown in the five-round bout and stood toe to toe with Covington on the feet, engaging him in a striking battle.

Covington welcomed Usman’s strategy and the two combined to throw a total of 755 strikes. To the surprise of many, it was Usman who outstruck Covington 174 to 143 in significant strikes landed. While Covington was also able to connect on Usman, the latter did more damage and ended up breaking Covington’s jaw en route to a five-round stoppage.

Since that fight, Usman has successfully defended the belt twice against Masvidal and Gilbert Burns. Meanwhile, Covington has fought only once, stopping former champion Tyron Woodley in September 2020. After Gilbert Burns’ loss to Usman, Covington reclaimed the no. 1 contender spot.

UFC 261 First

But before White can even start promoting Usman vs Covington 2, Usman still has to take care of business against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 this Saturday night at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

UFC 261 is stacked 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eQq8DMVhTj

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 16, 2021

The fight will mark the second between Usman and Masvidal, who faced off at UFC 251 last year at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. In that fight, Usman dominated Masvidal for five rounds, en route to a 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 unanimous decision win.

The Nigerian Nightmare outstruck Masvidal 263 to 88 in total strikes landed while taking him down a total of five times and controlling Gambred for 16:38 minutes on the mat. Masvidal though, showed flashes of brilliance, landing some big strikes of his own and forcing Usman to leave the fight with a broken nose.

After the loss, Masvidal kept talking about hurting Usman despite taking the fight on six days’ notice. Gamebred has always kept insisting that he will beat Usman on a full camp. That’s what he had for this fight so we’ll see if he can back the talk. MMA betting sites, however, think that Usman (-425) will dominate again, setting up a potential Covington rematch.