Ahead of his return in the main event of UFC 272, Colby Covington’s boss Dana White believes “Chaos” has done enough to earn a spot on the prestigious pound-for-pound rankings.
There is no doubt that Covington is one of the very best welterweight fighters on the planet. During an eight-year tenure inside the MMA world leader, he has proven his status as an elite fighter by beating some of the best competitors his division has had to offer in that time.
Over 15 fights in the Octagon he has lost just three times and two of those came in hard-fought five-round battles against current division king Kamaru Usman.
Dana White sees Colby Covington being champion in a different world
Due to his failures against Usman, the 34-year-old often gets overshadowed in the division by the dominance of “The Nigerian Nightmare” during his championship reign. However, UFC President Dana White feels that in a world without Usman, Covington would most assuredly be welterweight champ.
“The truth is, if Kamaru Usman doesn’t exist, Colby Covington is the 170 lb champion of the UFC,” White told Yahoo Sports [h/t BJPenn.com].
Considering how good Covington has been during his UFC career, and the fact that the only man to beat him recently is the fighter considered the best in the world, it is a bit surprising that the Oregon native isn’t on many top-10 pound-for-pound lists. It is an omission that also baffles the UFC boss as well.
- Colby Covington record: 16-3 (4 knockouts, 4 submissions)
White proclaims Covington as a pound-for-pound level fighter
However, White admits that the reputation Covington has built as a man willing to say some bold and often offense of things likely hurts how he is viewed in the eyes of those who set rankings lists.
“Colby should be on the pound-for-pound list. I agree with you, the fact that he’s so unliked, I think it makes him easy to be overlooked,” he said.
Covington will face friend turned enemy Jorge Masvidal in the headliner of UFC 272 on Saturday night. The event will take place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The card kicks off at 6 PM ET with the prelims. That will be followed by the main card pay-per-view at 10 PM ET. The PPV portion of the event will air exclusively on ESPN+ for a cost of $74.99.
