Now that the dust has settled a bit, let us take a look at the top of the UFC’s welterweight division and the shenanigans that have transpired over the past few weeks.

First, Kamaru Usman usurped the #1 contender spot away from Colby Covington after months of back and forth between Dana White, Tyron Woodley, and Covington. Woodley vs Covington was obviously the matchup to make, but injuries to both parties derailed that one. If this fight never materializes, I’ll pour some liquor out, because that would truly be a travesty. Regardless, it is now Woodley vs Usman, which quite honestly, is probably a more competitive matchup for Woodley than Covington. I suppose we can break this down a little.

Don’t get me wrong, Colby is elite and has earned the shot, but I just think Woodley would have his way with him. The only area of a fight where Colby would have an advantage would be with his cardio. He went 25 hard minutes with RDA and looked fine throughout. Woodley has looked tired before, but here is where the problem for Colby comes. The fight is only 25 minutes, no more. Colby can do it, but Tyron can too, it might just not look as pretty. I mean, Tyron stuffed takedowns from Demian Maia for 20+ minutes with one working arm for crying out loud. Not a wholly entertaining fight, but it was made evident that Woodley can go 25 minutes while being pressured, even when compromised. This is why cardio won’t be that big a deal if these two gentleman fight. Colby may be able to fight for an hour, and Tyron, maybe a half hour, but they can both do 25 minutes just fine. Tyron is the cleaner, more powerful, and simply better striker than Colby, and he can wrestle and grapple with the best of them. If Colby were to wind up on top of Tyron, I’d feel a lot more confident with Tyron being able to get back up than if the roles were reversed. I don’t really see an avenue for Colby to win, but I can’t say the same for Kamaru Usman.

Kamaru Usman probably poses the biggest threat to Tyron Woodley right now in the welterweight division. Not only because he is an elite grappler, but because of something else: his reach on the feet. For comparison, Woodley has a 74” reach, and Usman 76”. Obviously this isn’t a huge difference, but when two super elite grapplers get in the cage, sometimes the fight is entirely contested on the feet. With a noticeable reach advantage over Woodley, a path to victory exists for Usman if he can out-point him on the feet, albeit highly unlikely. It’s easier said than done, but it is a possible way to win, whereas I struggle to find one for Covington. Both would be good fights, but the one we get to see is Woodley/Usman as the co-main event on UFC 235 in March.

As for the actual controversy, Colby Covington does appear to have been shafted here. Similar to Tony Ferguson, both guys worked their way up the ranks, won interim belts, did things the “right way”, only to be forgone due to injury. Not that Kamaru doesn’t deserve a title shot, it’s just that Colby deserved it first, and he’s healthy enough to make the UFC 235 date. Not to beat a dead horse, but this raises the usual questions about interim belts; Are they worth it, why do they even exist, yada yada yada. I for one don’t care one way or another about interim belts, I just ask for consistency. The UFC has chosen to use interim belts, with the impression that winning an interim belt guaranteed you the next shot at the belt, or becoming the next champ should the current champ vacate. This has typically been the case, most recently with Robert Whittaker’s interim middleweight belt won over Yoel Romero being turned into the actual belt, once Georges St. Pierre ceased to hold the division hostage after Bisping did the same. But now, the two most recent interim belts have resulted in colossal shenanigans. Tony Ferguson was forced to take a different fight with nothing to gain, and with the recent Darren Till rumors, it appears Dana White may want Colby Covington to do the same.

Like him or hate him, you have to at least acknowledge that Colby is right to be pissed off. He earned a belt, and right now it appears to just be a large, gold paperweight. Again, I don’t necessarily mind interim belts, as long as they are applied the same way for everyone that earns one. Obviously, I am aware that injuries can throw a wrench in to things, but Tyron Woodley was injured while Covington was healthy at one point too. Now, they’re both healthy, and they were both available for UFC 235, as far as I know. Colby must have been beyond unreasonable during title fight negotiations, otherwise Kamaru Usman surpassing him on the title ladder makes no sense at all.

Still should be a good fight, though.

AM