UFC president Dana White wants to see No. 1-ranked welterweight Colby Covington fight Khamzat Chimaev next, should “Borz” win his fight on April 9.
White appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” ahead of Saturday night’s UC 273 event in Jacksonville, Florida. Chimaev is set to fight No. 2 Gilbert Burns during the event’s highly anticipated featured bout.
“I think that if Khamzat Chimaev wins this weekend, we see him and Colby Covington next,” White said via MMA Fighting.
Chimaev is 4-0 in the UFC and 10-0 as a professional MMA fighter, and he is currently ranked No. 11, as per the promotion’s official rankings.
The UFC president then stated that the promotion is planning to host an event on the ABC television network later this year, and if Chimaev gets his hand raised at UFC 273, White wants Covington vs. Borz on the card, and likely headlining it.
“I have a fight coming up on ABC, and in a perfect world, if everything plays out right, I would love to do Khamzat vs. Colby if Khamzat should win on Saturday night,” White continued.
Covington rebounded from his failed title campaign against 170-pound king Kamaru Usman in November by dominating his rival, Jorge Masvidal, last month at UFC 272.
Chimaev Has Also Expressed Interest in Fighting Covington After Burns
During the UFC 273 media day, Borz was asked if he’d be open to fighting “Chaos” after Burns. Chimaev made it clear that he’s down for a scrap with Covington, but he doesn’t think “the guy wants to fight” him.
“I will be happy if they do that,” Chimaev said during the UFC 273 media day via MMA Mania. “I don’t think that guy wants to fight me, he gonna go to the cops, calls the cops. Dana White will be in jail if they make that fight. He talks too much in the media, then when he sees face-to-face, then he goes to the cops. If I’m honest, UFC has to kick him out. He’s a b****.”
But whether he draws Covington next or not, Chimaev plans to “smash everyone.”
“Whatever they want, I want to smash everyone,” Chimaev continued. “They have to give me that title if I smash everyone. Who gonna be next? I don’t care. Now I’m more focused on 170 but we’ll see if my coach says we can [move back up to middleweight]. I listen to my coach, I promise him I’m gonna do what he says.”
Of course, Borz needs to get past Burns first, which is no easy task. “Durinho” is one of the best welterweights in the world, and he’s also a world-class BJJ practitioner.
UFC 273 Boasts 2 Title Fights Featuring Featherweight & Bantamweight
As mentioned, Chimaev is taking part in the featured bout. Ahead of him and Burns are two title clashes. Alexander Volkanovski will look to defend his featherweight belt for a third consecutive time when he takes on “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, during the UFC 273 main event.
In the co-main slot, 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling and interim champion Petr Yan will unify the bantamweight title.
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UFC Boss Dana White Confirms Next Fight He Wants for Colby Covington