The UFC’s welterweight division is in a very odd spot at the moment. Over the summer, Colby Covington won the interim 170-pound title. Unfortunately, due to issues from both sides, a fight with undisputed champion Tyron Woodley was unable to be locked down. Now, Woodley will be defending his championship against Kamaru Usman at UFC 235. Covington is no longer recognized as interim welterweight champion.
Both Woodley and Covington have different reasons for why a fight with the other hasn’t happened. Covington has complained that Woodley wasn’t healthy enough to compete against him in November, but was still trying to land a fight with Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz. Recently, welterweight Belal Muhammad spoke to MMA Junkie on the matter. He had a message for “Chaos.”
Muhammad called out Covington for not having fought Usman himself earlier while Woodley was hurt:
“That division is really good, but (it’s) so crazy that a lot of these guys are afraid to fight each other,” Muhammad said. “They’re on long winning streaks, because no one wants to fight each other. Like, usually guys on winning streaks should be fighting each other, to see who’s better. Like, same thing with Colby Covington, everybody’s all upset that he didn’t get the title shot over Usman.
“But he was saying, ‘I was healthy in March, I was healthy for November, but Woodley was hurt.’ I’m like, If you’re a so-called champ, like you say you are, then why didn’t you fight Usman on that other card, the Anaheim card (UFC 233)? You could have picked that fight and fought him … Don’t talk about it, be about it.”
What do you make of Muhammad’s comments towards Covington?
