There is still a vast collection of people around the mixed martial arts (MMA) community that don’t understand why Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is hellbent on giving Colby Covington the next welterweight title shot. This includes welterweight contenders, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns, who will fight each other in the co-main event tomorrow night (Sat., April 8, 2023) at UFC 287 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida.
White cemented Covington as the next UFC welterweight title challenger after “Chaos” showed up to UFC 286 in London last month and weighed in as a back up. Despite a significant portion of the MMA community complaining about Covington stepping back into the cage to a title shot White remans adamant that he’ll get the next crack at current champion Leon Edwards.
This hasn’t sat well with some of the members of the UFC’s welterweight division. The likes of Burns, Belal Muhammad, and even Khamzat Chimaev, have done more over the past year or so to deserve a title shot more than Covington. That said, White is unwilling to give it to anyone else at this time, whether it makes more sense or not.
During Thursday’s UFC 287 pre-fight press conference (watch HERE), White was once again asked if Covington would in fact get the next welterweight title shot. As the UFC president began to answer Masvidal and Burns, who were on stage as well, started to boo. It showed their level of disappointment that their co-main event fight this weekend at UFC 287 would not be a No. 1 contender’s bout at 170 pounds.
As usual, White shrugged it off and remained steadfast. Check it out below:
Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns both boo after Dana White reiterates that Colby Covington will get the next title shot ? #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/3xtPxunX4f
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) April 6, 2023
“When’s the last time he finished somebody?” asked Masvidal.
All of this said, it would be hard for UFC not to book Edwards vs. Masvidal if “Gamebred” was able to win in spectacular fashion this weekend in his own backyard. With the history that “Rocky” and Masvidal share it would be nearly impossible for the promotion not to strike while the iron is hot.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.