Colby Covington

BREAKING: Kamaru Usman – Gilbert Burns at UFC 256 is off (Reports)

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Per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, one of the more anticipated matchups of the winter is off. According to Helwani, the UFC 256 headliner between Kamaru Usman (17-1) and Gilbert Burns (19-3) is off. The word from Helwani is that the UFC champion needs a little more time.

Usman did get injured in his last fight against Jorge Masvidal that came at UFC 251. Usman was thought to be all cleared for this fight, but upon returning to training, it appears that the champion is going to need additional time to prepare for the event.

As of now, the UFC is still planning on this being the title fight. However, the fight is going to be pushed back to either the January or February card. This would line up even better with the proposed title eliminator between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.

Perhaps, the UFC could pivot to having Covington and Masvidal fight on the December card. Masvidal has come out and said in the past that he wanted to fight again before the year is over. Covington has also expressed interest in getting back in there.

UFC 256 without Usman – Burns

As things currently stand, UFC 256 still has a title fight. The GOAT, Amanda Nunes, is scheduled to defend her featherweight title against Megan Anderson. For now, that title fight will slot into the main event spot. However, that’s not guaranteed to stay there.

The UFC could look at potentially having the matchup between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier headline that card. McGregor initially asked Poirier to fight for charity on December 12th which is the same night as 256.

Dana White came out last week and said that the promotion was waiting to hear back from McGregor on the potential fight inside the UFC. It wouldn’t be a bad idea in my opinion for the promotion to do everything they can to either make Masvidal – Covington or McGregor – Poirier the UFC 256 headliner.

Leon Edwards only wants a UFC title shot or top 4 opponent in his next fight

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Leon Edwards

The UFC has a little bit of a problem in their welterweight division. They have fights they want to make, but the fighters involved don’t seem interested in the fights that the promotion wants to make. Let’s start with the situation regarding Khamzat Chimaev.

The UFC is wanting to showcase their new star in a headlining fight in November. They wanted Chimaev to fight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but Wonderboy has turned down the fight. This leaves the UFC with very few options for Chimaev.

Instead, Wonderboy has called out Leon Edwards. This is a fight that makes sense from a rankings perspective. However, Edwards is not interested in fighting Thompson despite his top five UFC ranking. He cited Thompson’s knockout loss to Anthony Pettis as a reason.

Edwards told MMA Fighting, “As far as Wonderboy, he got knocked out like a fight ago. Pettis knocked him out one fight ago. If I go out there right now and I fight Wonderboy and I beat Wonderboy, the UFC will be like ‘let’s go one more in the top-five and then we’ll go for a title.’ They wouldn’t give me a title shot straight away.”

What should the UFC do?

Despite the objections from Edwards, the UFC should push to make the Wonderboy – Edwards fight. Despite the complaints from Edwards, he really hasn’t defeated anyone of significance inside the welterweight division. His best wins came against Donald Cerrone and Rafael Dos Anjos.

Neither one of those guys are true UFC welterweights. I really don’t understand Edwards’ argument. Yes, he’s won eight consecutive fights, but he hasn’t defeated any top guys in the welterweight division. Wonderboy would by far be the best fighter that Edwards has fought in the division.

Kamaru Usman is fighting Gilbert Burns for the title at UFC 256, and the promotion is working on booking Jorge Masvidal – Colby Covington. The winner of that fight will fight the winner of the Usman – Burns matchup which takes place in December.

Edwards has been begging for a top four opponent, but there’s nobody to fight at the moment. Edwards is in a position now where he either needs to accept the Wonderboy fight, or wait until 2021 for the top four to finish their fights.

UFC: Leon Edwards says Jorge Masvidal is ducking him

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Leon Edwards

At this point, you almost have to feel bad for top UFC welterweight Leon Edwards (18-3). Edwards is currently on an eight fight winning streak and he’s the third ranked welterweight in the division. However, the UFC can’t get him a fight.

He’s called out Jorge Masvidal multiple times for a fight. He’s called out Colby Covington, and he even said he would fight Nick Diaz. Despite his attempts, nothing has materialized and Edwards has continued to sit on the bench.

Edwards said to MMA Fighting that the UFC offered him and Masvidal the fight. Edwards said that he agreed to the fight, but the UFC‘s BMF turned down the opportunity to face Edwards in the octagon.

“I want the fight. The UFC wanted the fight. They offered it to him and he turned it down. He said he’d rather fight Nate Diaz. I don’t understand it. He claims he wants to get back to the title shot and fight for a world championship. I don’t understand what fighting a person like Nate Diaz will get you? I don’t know,” Edwards told MMA Fighting

What does the UFC do with Leon Edwards?

Edwards said that he would either want to fight Covington, Masvidal or for the title in that interview with MMA Fighting. Anything else inside the UFC isn’t of great interest. However, there is one fight that makes a lot of sense if you ask me.

Last week, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (15-4-1) called out Edwards. Thompson has challenged for the UFC title twice and he’s currently ranked fifth in the division. He would be the highest ranked opponent Edwards would have faced to this point.

Despite the fact that the fight makes sense, Edwards hasn’t shown much interest in fighting Thompson. In fact, he hasn’t even responded to the callout. Edwards’ biggest problem right now is the lack of care the public seems to have in him.

Realizing that, he’s really wanting a fight with someone who could elevate him by ranking and status. While Wonderboy would help his ranking status, it’s not the sexiest fight in the world which is probably why Edwards hasn’t shown much interest.

UFC: Colby Covington says he’s accepted a fight against Jorge Masvidal

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UFC, Colby Covington

This past weekend after UFC 253, Dana White was asked about what was next for Jorge Masvidal (35-14). The promotion had been supposedly close to finalizing the BMF rematch between Masvidal and Nate Diaz. However, the UFC has changed their plans.

According to White the UFC has pivoted and is working on booking Masvidal against Colby Covington (16-2). White said that a fight between the two top welterweights was a fight that just made sense. Both are ranked in the top four of the UFC rankings.

There is a ton of personal beef between the two men. Colby Covington said in a recent interview with Submission Radio that he has accepted the fight against Masvidal. According to Covington, the promotion is now working with Masvidal’s camp on finalizing the grudge match.

UFC title eliminator and grudge match

“Dana White came up to me after my fight immediately and said, ‘Hey, we want to do you vs. Masvidal.’ I accepted right on that night, in that minute. Now it’s just about getting ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal on board. He’s scared of my shadow, I definitely don’t want to have to beat him up on the streets of Miami, cause I am the king of Miami,” Covington said.

Covington went on to say that the UFC would be booking the fight for a PPV event. Considering the promotion’s original plans with the Diaz fight, the UFC will likely attempt to book Covington and Masvidal for a PPV event in January.

Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, will be defending his title against Gilbert Burns in December at UFC 256. The winner of these two fights should make for an incredible fight sometime in 2021.

Jorge Masvidal might be the biggest draw in the UFC right now. His first appearance on Fight Island helped the promotion draw 1.3 million buys. Considering the personal beef, a fight between Masvidal and Covington would be big business for the UFC.

UFC working on Jorge Masvidal – Colby Covington per Dana White

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Following UFC 253, Dana White was asked about a variety of topics at his post-fight press conference. One of the questions he was asked was about Nate Diaz. Diaz had posted a trailer earlier in the day essentially trying to pump up fans for a rematch with Jorge Masvidal.

However, the UFC seems to be switching up their plans after last weekend. The UFC was close to finalizing the rematch between Masvidal and Diaz, but after Colby Covington‘s victory at UFC Vegas 11, the promotion has other plans.

When asked about what’s next for Masvidal, White said that a fight with Colby Covington makes sense. When asked if the UFC was looking to book that fight, White responded saying, “It’s very possible,” with a smile.

Ultimate UFC Theatre

White is right about one thing, and that is that Masvidal – Covington is the fight to make. Both of these UFC welterweights rank inside the top four in the division. Both have lost to the current champion Kamaru Usman, but are primed for rematches.

In addition to their UFC rankings, there is a ton of personal beef between the two men. Masvidal and Covington were former training partners and roommates. At one point, the two fighters labeled each other as brothers.

However, when Covington changed up his style to benefit his career, it created a riff between the two UFC welterweights. Masvidal and Covington have grown to have a strong hatred for the other, and they’ve been jawing at each other for a while.

A fight between the two of them makes perfect sense for the promotion, and it’s a much better fight for the UFC than the Diaz rematch. White made another point at the press conference saying the rematch with Diaz will, “Always be there.”

Covington said after his victory at UFC Vegas 11 that Masvidal needed to answer for all the things he said. This would be the perfect title eliminator for the promotion. The winner should be next in line to face the winner of Kamaru Usman – Gilbert Burns which takes place in December.

UFC President on trash talk: ‘We don’t muzzle anybody here’

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UFC, Dana White

A topic that’s been making the rounds in the media this week is trash talk. Specifically tied to what Colby Covington had to say last weekend at UFC Vegas 11 after he destroyed Tyron Woodley. Many took issue with what Covington had to say.

Several UFC athletes labeled the talk as racist, and several in the media have sang that same tune. Media members have called for the UFC to step in when talk gets to what Colby Covington said last week. However, the UFC President doesn’t agree.

“We don’t muzzle anybody here. We let everyone speak their mind. I don’t know what he said that was racist,” White said in today’s UFC 253 pre-fight press conference. White has stuck to the same position relaying the fact that this is the fight game.

When pushed on if he would step in if something was directly racist, the UFC president responded, “Come on, I’m not going to play these games with you (the media). Would I step in if something was racist? Of course.”

The UFC is right in their position

I completely agree with what the UFC has said on the matter. I detailed the position yesterday in a piece for ESM. The UFC should let fighters say exactly what they want when building up to a fight as long as it’s not directly racist or hate speech.

Dana White is taking that stand and says that’s what the UFC will do. Nothing Colby Covington said last week in my opinion should warrant suspensions or fines. It’s part of the buildup to another fight, and he will have to back up those words.

I’ll remind everyone again that he had his jaw broken at UFC 245 last year. The fight game makes you pay when you talk, and can’t back it up. The UFC and fighting in general is not the sport that should muzzle competitors and I’m happy to see White take that position.

I completely agree with him in that there’s a line that you cannot cross obviously. Those lines should be pretty elementary to understand. You can’t just say you believe that all people of a skin color should burn in hell. If you think that should be allowed, I really don’t know what to tell you.

However, there’s been nothing said by any fighter that should warrant punishment. These are men and women who have to step into a UFC cage and fight at the end of the day. This isn’t the NBA, this is the UFC. It’s a completely different world because at the end of the day, there’s a fight.

Should the UFC censor fighters’ trash talk?

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Over this past weekend at UFC Vegas 11, Colby Covington defeated Tyron Woodley. However, a topic of discussion this week has been centered more around what Covington said after the fight as opposed to his dominant performance.

Covington labeled Woodley a communist in his post-fight press conference and mentioned tribal smoke signals in a back and forth with UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. Of course, there have been many up in arms about what Covington had to say.

Many in the media have come out and said that the UFC needs to intervene. Dana White has responded saying that the UFC has never and won’t censor what their fighters can say before a fight. It should be known that this is not something new in the fight game.

In boxing years before they fought, Floyd Mayweather came under fire after he said to Manny Pacquiao, “Make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice.” Mayweather did later apologize for the racist comment towards the Filipino boxing champion.

Conor McGregor also came under fire during his promotional tour with Floyd Mayweather. The former UFC double champion asked Mayweather and his crew to dance, but used the term, monkeys. That was again in the headlines as a racially decisive comment.

What should the UFC do?

Let me be clear about my opinion. I don’t think it’s okay for anyone of any race to say anything offensive towards another individual simply because of the color of their skin. No matter what the situation, it’s not okay. If I was running a business, I wouldn’t let it happen because there’s no place for it.

However, this situation is different. We are talking about the UFC and fighting here. This is the one arena in life where your words can truly come back to bite you. I’ll remind you that Kamaru Usman broke Colby Covington’s jaw last December. It’s not like he got away with what he was saying.

The UFC welterweight champion seemed calm and composed during his exchange with Covington. Fighting is a very personal game, and even if the words are offensive, they are part of the story of the build up. Right now, we live in a very unique time where the country is extremely divided.

Racial relations are at a bubbling point in the US. I can definitely understand where folks are coming from in encouraging the UFC to step in. My only counter argument is that it’s the fight game. At the end of the day, you have to back up everything you see in the arena of combat.

Fortunately, I’m not running the UFC and I don’t have to make that choice. Because of the arena, I would say that the promotion should let fighters be to a point. I think the UFC should draw a line of where their fighters can go. It’s a touchy subject, but I don’t think the UFC should do anything different as of now.

Could Colby Covington welcome Nick Diaz back to the UFC?

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UFC, Colby Covington

Last Saturday night at UFC Vegas 11, Colby Covington (16-2) put on a clinic. He completely dominated Tyron Woodley for four rounds before an injury TKO called a stop to the action in the fifth and final round.

After the fight was over, Covington called out Jorge Masvidal and the UFC‘s welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. Both of those guys have history with Covington. However, Covington did mention another name he’d be interested in on Saturday night.

Covington said that he would be interested in fighting Nick Diaz (26-9, 2 NC) in his next fight. There have been plenty of guys who have called out Nick Diaz since it was announced that he was planning his return to the UFC.

At first the callout caught me off guard, however, after thinking about it, the fight could make sense. Kamaru Usman is fighting Gilbert Burns. Jorge Masvidal is supposedly close to finalizing a fight with Nate Diaz. What other options are there in the UFC for Covington?

An interesting route for the UFC

“I would love to fight Nick,” Covington said in the post-fight press conference. “He’s a high-pressure fighter. I’d love to fight him and it would be an easy fight. I’d definitely retire him just like I retired Tyron Woodley. Nick Diaz would never fight again, I promise you, after I got done with him.”

Fans would have to admit that it’s a very intriguing matchup. When Diaz does return to the UFC, we have no idea what Nick Diaz we will see. The man hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2015. In his last fight, he lost a decision to Anderson Silva. The fight was overturned to a no contest after Silva tested positive.

When he was in his prime, Diaz was one of the best welterweights in the UFC. He would break opponents with his incredible pace and pressure. In a lot of ways, he fights like Covington but with a different base.

Covington tries to suffocate opponents with pressure, but he leans heavy on his wrestling. However, Diaz would pressure his opponents and just keep touching them with light punches before he’d rip them with heavy shots as his opponents would start to fade.

With the lack of options, this could definitely be a fight the UFC could make. Leon Edwards is sitting there, but I don’t think Covington or Diaz have interest in fighting him. Edwards might be best suited to fight Wonderboy Thompson.

We don’t know if the UFC will actually entertain this idea, but it’s definitely something to watch. I know that I’d tune it for it.

Should Tyron Woodley retire after UFC Vegas 11?

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UFC, Tyrone Woodley

Tyron Woodley (19-6-1) could not stop the bleeding at UFC Vegas 11. The former welterweight champion had his back against the wall, and he had the fight that was supposed to motivate him more than any other. A grudge match with Colby Covington (16-2).

Woodley was in sink or swim mode leading up to UFC Vegas 11. The former UFC welterweight champion had lost two straight fights. However, he didn’t just lose those fights, he was thoroughly dominated losing all ten rounds of both fights.

If there was going to be any fight that could motivate him to get back to his former self, you would think the Covington fight would be it. However, we saw basically the same result as his previous two UFC outings. Woodley was completely dominated before a rib injury stopped the fight.

Should the former UFC champ hang it up?

UFC President Dana White said that he believes that Woodley should hang it up after Saturday night. That’s a popular feeling among a lot of people in the sport. Woodley has just looked like a shell in his last three contests.

Entering the fifth round against Covington, Woodley had lost 14 straight rounds. He’s been shutout in three straight UFC contests, and he didn’t even have moments in any of the fights where he remotely resembled his former self.

Woodley turns 39 next year, and he just doesn’t seem to have his head in it anymore. With no real path forward in the UFC, I think it’s probably a good time to walk away for Woodley. Nobody wants to walk away on a losing streak like this, but what else is there?

If Woodley wants to keep fighting, the UFC isn’t going to give him anyone at the top tier because he’s proved that he can’t hang anymore. That’s why I believe that it would just be better for him to hang up his gloves after Saturday.

He’s had a very good career which included capturing the UFC welterweight title and defending it four times. However, he’s not that same guy anymore, and it’s time to face reality if you’re Tyron Woodley.

What’s next for Colby Covington after UFC Vegas 11

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On Saturday evening at UFC Vegas 11, Colby Covington (16-2) arguably earned the most satisfying victory of his career. Covington dominated Tyron Woodley (19-6-1) over the course of five rounds before a rib injury stopped the action in the final round.

The former UFC interim champion used his high level pace and pressure to break Woodley. After years of build up, Covington did what he said he would do in dominating the former UFC champion. It was a big bounce back win for Covington.

Since 2016, Covington is 8-1 with his lone loss coming to Kamaru Usman back at UFC 245 for the undisputed title. This was Covington’s first fight since losing the fight to Usman back in December of last year. So after this victory, what’s next for Colby Covington?

What should the UFC do?

If you ask me, there are a few avenues that the UFC could pursue with Colby Covington. The first option is they could just have him wait for the winner of the Kamaru Usman – Gilbert Burns fight that is scheduled for UFC 256 in December.

Dana White has said how much he loved Usman and Covington’s fight from UFC 245, and he absolutely believes that Covington is in the mix for another title shot. With the current state of everything, Covington could be first in line for the winner.

Another option, and the one I personally think they should do, is pairing Covington with Jorge Masvidal. There is so much heat right now between Masvidal and Covington. Their fight is a fight that UFC fans are dying to see. The storyline is there for a massive event.

Now, the UFC has been working on a Masvidal – Nate Diaz rematch for January, but that fight is still not finalized. The UFC might pivot to make the Covington fight if Masvidal is willing to do it. That’s still up in the air at the moment.

The other option for Covington would be Leon Edwards. Edwards still doesn’t have an opponent despite calling out nearly everyone for a fight in the UFC. The third ranked contender has just been sitting on the sidelines.

The fight would make sense from a rankings perspective, but I’m not sure Covington wants that fight. I think Covington will hold out for either Masvidal or another shot at the welterweight title.