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Ali Abdelaziz claims Colby Covington isn't likely to be afforded yet another crack at the UFC welterweight title anytime soon. Covington has fought for the title against reigning champ Kamaru Usman twice, failing to win on both occasions.
Despite 'Chaos' picking up a lopsided unanimous decision win over his former teammate and No.7-ranked welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272, Abdelaziz feels he's still far away from earning a title shot. The high-profile MMA manager was unimpressed by Covington's recent performance against 'Gamebred'.
Abdelaziz also pointed out that apart from Masvidal, Covington hasn't beaten any other fighter currently ranked inside the top-15 in the 170lbs division. He claimed that Usman is still levels above Covington as a fighter. 'Chaos' must prove his mettle against the likes of Khamzat Chimaev, Gilbert Burns, and Vicente Luque before demanding a title shot.
During a recent interaction with The Schmo, Abdelaziz said:
"Colby Covington, he looked like sh*t... I don't think he looked too good in his last fight... Colby Covington's irrelevant. He's a guy [who's] been beaten by the champion two time, his jaw [has] been broken... If you look at top 15 right now, Colby Covington, the only person he fought in the top 15 is Kamaru Usman. He never beat anybody in the top 15. He needs to fight winner of Gilbert [Burns] vs. Khamzat [Chimaev], he need to fight Vicente Luque, he need to fight Belal Muhammad, he need to put some work in but he's not going to get a title shot anytime soon."
Check out the conversation between The Schmo and Ali Abdelaziz below:
Colby Covington shifting focus from title fights to money fights?
Covington may be aware that he isn't likely to earn a third crack at Kamaru Usman anytime soon. Following the win over Masvidal, Covington surprisingly called out another former teammate, Dustin Poirier, who is currently competing in the lightweight division.
Covington said he's even willing to fight Poirier at a catchweight of 165lbs if 'The Diamond' doesn't want to move to welterweight. Given that Covington and Poirier are former teammates who now share a very public rivalry, a potential clash between the pair would likely sell pay-per-views.
In the context of the welterweight division, however, the fight doesn't make much sense because Poirier is yet to compete at 170lbs whereas Covington is a top-ranked contender in the division.
