Dana White Confirms Covington's Title Shot, Addresses Jorge Masvidal's Ultimatum
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Love him or hate him, according to White, “Chaos” deserves the opportunity to fight for the title after his emphatic victory over former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler last Saturday night in the main event at UFC Newark, where he completely nullified Lawler’s power with his patented smothering fighting style.
On Tuesday, White confirmed to reporters that Covington’s
performance against Lawler warranted him the opportunity to fight
for the belt (via MMAFighting.com):
“That’s why I put Covington on ESPN against a guy like Lawler,” White said when asked if Covington was assured the next shot at the welterweight title when speaking to reporters following the Contender Series on Tuesday. “You can say whatever you want about Covington, you don’t like him, you don’t this, that, or whatever — he put on a clinic against Lawler, who is a beast. Lawler’s been in all the big fights, former world champion, hits like a truck and Colby completely shut him down.
“His cardio was impressive and the way that he beat Lawler was even more impressive.”
The odd-man out in the welterweight equation is Jorge Masvidal who was under the impression that a win over the previously-undefeated Ben Askren would get him a title shot. What’s even more frustrating for Masvidal was that he knocked out “Funky” in just five seconds, setting the record for the fastest finish in UFC history.
White told the media on Tuesday that Masvidal’s ultimatum of a title shot or a fight against Conor McGregor isn’t a smart move on his behalf and said that the promotion has a fight lined up for him:
“You can’t make ultimatums,” White said. “Listen, we’re going to offer him a fight, and if he accepts the fight, he does and if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”
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