Robert Whittaker thinks Colby Covington is right where he belongs in the title shot picture.
The UFC welterweight division has been getting a lot of attention lately following the UFC 286 win by Leon Edwards. Edward solidified himself as the rightful champion when he defeated Kamaru Usman for the second time in a row in London at UFC 286. Immediately following the win UFC president Dana White announced that Colby Covington would be next for Edwards. This surprised few people since Covington was on hand in London to serve as a backup fighter for the main event. However, since the announcement, there has been some blowback on whether he deserves the shot or not.
Edwards himself has mentioned that he does not feel Covington earned his position as the next title contender. He is looking for a shot at Jorge Masvidal if he is victorious this week and against Gilbert Burns. Masvidal also feels he deserves a title shot and has been calling for it as well.
Robert Whittaker believes Colby Covington deserves the next shot at Leon Edwards
One man who has been in Covington’s position before is the former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker. Whittaker is not currently matched up with anybody in the middleweight division but is taking time to act as an analyst. He was asked by Mainevent on YouTube who he believes should be next for Edwards. He agrees with White that Covington is the rightful heir to the title shot.
“I think Colby deserves a shot just because he has put a beating on most people. You know, the Usman fight, I think really stylistically, styles do make fights, and Usman and Colby, they just match up. It’s a hard fight for each other. It’s a hard fight for Colby, whereas Masvidal, and Leon, I think, is a good fight for Masvidal. But I think Colby is a bad fight for Leon. You know, it’s kind of like that triangle, rock, paper, scissors sort of formula.”
It is important to note that Covington’s last fight was against Masvidal and he won that bout. Neither of them has fought since that fight last year. Covington is currently ranked number one in the official rankings but hovering with an eight-win streak is Belal Muhammad who has been overlooked in this whole scenario.
