Dana White: Colby Covington Will Have To Earn Title Shot Again

Colby Covington no longer has a UFC title shot waiting for him on the horizon.

“Chaos” will have to earn the opportunity yet again. Speaking on a Facebook Live chat with the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the UFC 225 press conference yesterday (Thurs. January 31, 2019), UFC President Dana White said Covington will need to earn the opportunity again (via MMA Junkie):

“Colby now is going to have to fight again and earn the spot to get back,” White said.

The UFC’s 170-pound division is shaping up rather nicely. Woodley is preparing to defend his title against top contender Kamaru Usman. They’ll co-main event UFC 235 on pay-per-view (PPV) on March 2nd from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also, welterweight great Ben Askren has finally joined the division.

He’ll make his promotional debut at the PPV as well, facing off against former champion Robbie Lawler. For Covington to get back in the title mix again, he’ll need to pick up a big victory. He was in a great position just this past summer. With a victory over former 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos, capturing the interim 170-pound title in the process, Covington was all but guaranteed the next crack at Woodley.

However, issues on both sides prevented that fight from happening. Woodley is now heading into his second title defense since Covington’s interim title victory, which “Chaos” has since been stripped of. It will be interesting to see if the former training partners ever find themselves fighting each other in 2019.