UFC president Dana White confirmed that Colby Covington will face the winner of UFC 261’s main event between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

Usman and Masvidal meet this Saturday night in the main event of the UFC 261 pay-per-view card. Some were surprised that Masvidal got the rematch considering he just lost to Usman in his last fight at UFC 251 last summer on Fight Island, as many thought Covington would get the rematch with Usman since he just defeated Tyron Woodley via TKO. But the UFC decided to give Masvidal the rematch, which leaves Covington without an opponent.

Not for long, however. According to UFC president Dana White, if Usman wins this weekend at UFC 261, then Covington will get the next title shot in the UFC welterweight division.

Dana said if Usman wins this weekend Colby is next.

— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) April 20, 2021

Dana said if Usman wins this weekend Colby is next.

It does make sense that Covington would get the rematch with Usman if he wins. White was one of the biggest fans of their first fight at UFC 245, an absolute war that saw Covington get stopped late in the fifth round due to TKO. The fight was incredible and a rematch between the two rivals certainly makes a lot of sense if Usman wins on Saturday.

It may seem strange that White wouldn’t say that Covington would fight for the belt if Masvidal wins, given how big of a potential fight that would be if it happened. It seems likely, then, that the UFC would opt to give Usman the trilogy fight with Masvidal if “Gamebred” ends up finding a way to weekend given that they would be 1-1 at that point. Covington’s title aspirations very much, then, hinge of if Usman can get the job done.

Do you agree that Colby Covington deserves to get the title shot against the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal 2 at UFC 261?