Dana White: Covington Needs To Earn His Shot Again After Passing On Woodley Fight Last Year

Colby Covington was certain he was next in-line to fight Tyron Woodley for the undisputed 170-pound title before the Ultimate Fighting Championship decided to award the opportunity to Kamaru Usman. That decision infuriated Covington, who blasted UFC President Dana White before daring the UFC to release him.

Covington was offered a fight against Woodley last year at UFC 228 which he passed up, deciding to undergo nasal surgery instead. The decision displeased White, who stripped Covington of his interim belt and gave Usman the shot. White has now gone on record to address Covington’s complaints, and suggested that “Chaos” would need to earn his spot again after passing up his opportunity.

“He’s not the interim champ. We offered a fight to Covington and Covington didn’t take the fight,” White said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I say it all the time, 20 years I’ve been saying this I don’t know how many more times I’ve got to say it, this is a sport of opportunity. When opportunity is there, answer the door, take it. If you don’t, it’s going to take you longer to get back to that belt. I liked the fight that Usman had, Usman was ready to fight anybody and he’s getting the shot.

“Colby now is going to have to fight again and earn the spot to get back,” White said.

UFC 235 takes place March 2, 2019 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The loaded card is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Smith, with Woodley vs. Usman in the co-main event slot.