UFC President Dana White says there are a lot of directions Colby Covington can go in.
Covington is the former interim UFC Welterweight Champion but he hasn’t been able to snag undisputed gold. It isn’t for a lack of effort either as Covington has gotten past plenty of worthy foes at 170 pounds but he hasn’t been able to get past the reigning titleholder, Kamaru Usman.
Covington defeated Jorge Masvidal in a grudge match back in March and Dana says “Chaos” could switch things up if he wants.
During the UFC Long Island post-fight press conference, Dana said he could envision Colby Covington’s next fight taking place at welterweight, middleweight, or even lightweight (via Aaron Bronsteter).
White says that Colby stated he'd fight at 155, 170 or 185, so there are a lot of potential options.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) July 16, 2022
“White says that Colby stated he’d fight at 155, 170 or 185, so there are a lot of potential options.”
A move to lightweight might be a tough sell for Covington, who told James Lynch for MMA News last year that moving down to 155 pounds isn’t in the cards for him.
“I’m not a bully. I’m not like Dustin ‘Louisiana swamp trash’ Poirier. That guy, he’s a bully and he has to cut all that weight. He grew and he hit a growth spurt in his mid-to-late 20s and he’s a bigger guy now. He walks around at 185-190lbs,” Covington said.
“I don’t want to struggle. When you cut that type of weight James, it’s so unhealthy for your body. Taking all that water out of your brain and dehydrating your body like that, it’s not good. So I’m thinking about the long run in my life.
“I’m not cheating, I’m not using steroids, I’m not cutting massive amounts of weight — things that destroy your body and take years off your life. So I do it the right way and just show up to fight at my natural weight class that I weigh.
“I don’t have to cut weight. I just show up and fight and show the world what I’m capable of, show the world my potential, and that’s how it should be. All these guys think they’re going to have such an advantage by cutting a lot of weight, but it’s a myth. It just shows how mentally weak people are.”