London was a beautiful host and UFC 286 was a great card. Leon Edwards defeated Kamaru Usman for the second time and retained his championship. The rivalry has a full stop to it and now the welterweight division moves on to the fresh blood. Colby Covington is the number 2 ranked welterweight. Leon Edwards, however, has stood his ground and said Colby Covington won’t get the title shot next, despite what Dana White said.
The co-main event was also a three round back and forth but due to the damage caused to Fiziev, Justin Gaethji got the win.
Dana White Privilege: Colby Covington next for the title shot?
Dana White in the post-fight press conference at UFC 286 mentioned that Colby Covington makes sense as a next fight. The UFC President was asked about several fighters, but he said Covington is next. Colby Covington last fought Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 and won the fight.
The lawsuit that followed, soon after, has kept Colby Covington out of the game since. The Chaos also weighed in as a back-up fighter for UFC 286 which was much to the surprise of many.
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Leon Edwards however, feels that Covington doesn’t deserve a title shot next. He feels that he has been sitting out for a year or more and directly coming back and getting a title shot won’t be fair. Rocky said that he had to deserve the shot before getting it, and so should Colby.
“Khamzat Chimaev is a guy that I got matched up with three times in a row. I took the fight and Covington didn’t take the fight. He’s getting rewarded for not taking the fight. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings. This Dana White privilege is definietly real” – Leon Edwards via The MMA Hour
Dana White privilege is a term that was first used by Tony Ferguson when he was fighting Michael Chandler. The reporters, the fans and Dana White himself busted into laughter after hearing this term from Tony Ferguson.
UFC 170 Pound division:
UFC’s welterweight division is one of the most talent stacked divisions. Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal are set to fight next. Shavkhat Rakhmonov recently defeated Geoff Neil via submission in round three. Colby Covington is always in the mix.
“(Colby Covington is) getting rewarded for not taking fights. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings. So this Dana White privilege is definitely real.”
– Leon Edwards on The MMA Hour pic.twitter.com/cChT6DK6ZE
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 20, 2023
The UFC president believes that The Chaos is next in line. The 155-pound champ Islam Makhachev has also shown interest in fighting Leon Edwards at 170 pounds for his title. Conor McGregor has also shown interest in fighting at 170, but the timeline right now won’t match, as he will be facing Chandler later this year.
Whoever gets the title shot, it’s going to be a fight between two high level fighters in the UFC.
Who do you think will get the title shot next at 170?
