Former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place. If he had been champion at the end of 2023, he would have single-handedly stalled three divisions. Remember how Alexander Volkanovski wanted Islam Makhachev who wanted the welterweight title holder (the winner of UFC 296’s Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington)? Covington was talking big game and entertaining a champ v. champ fight against the lightweight. Fast forward to May 2024, he is eyeing yet another lightweight, but this time, Chael Sonnen disapproves.

36-year-old Covington has drawn a lot of attention from 27-year-old Ian Garry with some highly flammable comments about the latter’s wife. The unbeaten Irishman has been trying hard to get into a fight with ‘Chaos’ over the same but without much success. When the stars seemed to be aligning for a UFC 303 bout between the pair, Covington took a complete U-turn and showed his interest in facing Charles Oliveira.

The Brazilian recently expressed an interest in the 170 lbs division for a shot at the returning Conor McGregor, who will take on Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in a welterweight bout. However, fan-favorite analyst Chael Sonnen doesn’t feel it’s the right choice for ‘Chaos’ to fight ‘Do Bronxs.’

In his recent video he said, “Colby Covington’s career is a riddle. It truly is. This is the guy that beat the BMF Champion but never became the BMF champion. This is the guy that won the interim championship, never lost it, woke up one day and no longer had it. This is the guy that is the clearest number one contender our industry has ever seen.”

Further adding to the explanation, Sonnen said that fighting Oliveira would not do good for his career. Even a win against the Brazilian will not guarantee him a title shot. He further added, “He’s reminding you that some of the biggest fights that people want to see. Some of the super fights, some of this parody that you got to come up with that’s a little outside the box , isn’t always about a title.”

To add insult to injury, Covington does not have a win over a ranked welterweight contender as of now. All the big names he has beaten in the 170 lbs division have dropped from the rankings of retired. This means the #4 ranked star will have to choose between some of the young and hungry contenders (Ian Garry being one of them) to earn a shot at the title next.

With Covington working towards a comeback, whom can he face next? Daniel Cormier feels he will have to face someone as dangerous as Shavkat Rakhmonov. 

Former UFC champion picks next opponent for Colby Covington

The rivalry between Garry and Covington reignited after Garry’s UFC 298 fight. The unbeaten Irish called out Covington for a fight and promised him to retire from the sport. Covington responded to the claims in his own style and launched an attack on Layla Machado (Ian Garry’s wife).  Despite all the social media brawl the 36-year-old has made it clear that he won’t be fighting Garry mainly because of his ranking. So who else can he face next? Former champion Daniel Cormier shared his honest opinion in his recent interview. 

‘DC’ said, “I will tell you this much: if you keep saying no to Ian Gary, you might end up with Shavkat Rakhmonov. Which one do you choose?” Cormier further made it clear that the former champion currently has only two fighters in line and he has to take the decision. Cormier further added, “Because right now, it’s going to be one of those guys. I think the days of him fighting guys that have been around for a long time are kind of over. So, he needs to make a decision about what he wants to do as a fighter and what he wants to do going forward.” 

Cormier’s comments become all the more relevant after the recent UFC announcements for their upcoming Manchester PPV. Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad will vie for the welterweight title at the Co-Op Arena on July 27 in the promotion’s PPV return to England. Ironically enough, Colby had his eyes set on Muhammad as a sure-shot ticket at the title and had dropped his name in recent interviews. Now that train has left the station too.

Considering all these moving parts, what do you think is next for Covington? As Cormier said, his days of fighting the mainstays are over, since the new blood is taking over the division. If you could play matchmaker, who do you pit Covington against next? Let us know in the comments.