After losing to Joaquin Buckley at the UFC Tampa main event clash last night, Colby Covington is now staring at an uncertain future. After all, the All-American wrestler is 36,  after failed attempts at the welterweight title, and especially after his abysmal performance last night, seems to be past his prime. With this loss to ‘New Mansa’, the #6 ranked ‘Chaos’ will definitely fall a few spots in the rankings. Now the big question is – what next for Covington? Well, there are two possibilities- either he will fight the younger guys and serve as the gatekeeper for the very top of the division, or fight one of the veterans.

Among the newer generation, there is of course Ian Garry, coming off a loss and in need of a big name to make a renewed push towards the title. But since the Irishman, in his own words, doesn’t really fight lower-ranked guys, he probably wouldn’t want to risk his ranking against ‘Chaos’. On the other hand, there are up-and-coming welterweights the likes of Carlos Prates and Michael Morales who are looking to break into the top ten. There are also young and hungry guys like Sean Brady and Jack Della Maddalena in the top ten. All these are dangerous, hungry fighters who could pose a real threat of putting Covington into retirement.

Furthermore, for ‘Chaos’, these fights will not be as financially lucrative as facing one of the vets. At this point, it makes sense for ‘Chaos’ to fight a veteran fighter since it would make sense from a financial and legacy perspective. The California native could pursue a fight against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, and avenge both his losses. After all, former champ and Covington’s foe, Kamaru Usman is 0-3 in his last three.

In a similar boat as Usman is another former champ, Leon Edwards, who decisively beat Colby Covington last year to retain his title. This loss was humiliating for ‘Chaos’ as he launched a scathing attack at ‘Rocky’ (and his late father), but failed to back his words up in the fight. Then there is also the current gatekeeper and fellow vet, Gilbert Burns, who is also on a slide with a similar 0-3 run as Kamaru Usman.

In fact, a clash against either man seems like the best bet for everyone involved. A fight with either three of the above-mentioned fighters could be a major cash cow for the UFC, given Covington’s penchant for selling the fight, and the fact that he was already involved in bitter rivalries with the two former champions he lost to. The fight with Joaquin Buckley was a bit anti-climatic as we didn’t get to see ‘Chaos’ rally in the later rounds.

However, the way things were going, it seemed likely that Buckley was on his way to putting Covington’s lights out. Still, he is a big name in the division and has a couple of years left in the sport to make a statement. In that vein, what does UFC head honcho think about Colby Covington following his third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to ‘New Mansa’?

Dana White wanted Colby Covington to fight all five rounds against Buckley

Dana White was not happy with the way Covington-Buckley at UFC Tampa ended. After all, the fight was stopped by the ringside doctor in the third round, right as things were starting to get interesting. ‘Chaos’ had taken some hard shots and was being battered and bloodied on the feet, leading to a cut on his eye. This was serious enough for the doctor to step in and deem ‘Chaos’ unable to continue. But UFC CEO Dana White disagrees.

“I was curious to see how it would go, if it had gone five rounds, there’s no doubt that it was a bad cut, but that fight doesn’t get stopped in Vegas – that fight keeps going in Vegas, 100 percent,” White said at the post-fight press conference. This is an indication that somewhere in White’s mind, Covington could have turned things around in the later rounds.

This, of course, is good news for Covington. After all, the UFC CEO also praised his chin and durability, which means the promotion hasn’t turned the page on him and may have some big things for him in the future. At least that is what White’s post-fight comments make things seem. Who do you think Colby Covington should fight next? Let us know in the comments down below.