Dana White: “I think if Khamzat Chimaev wins
this weekend we see him and Colby Covington next.”
#UFC273 (via @PatMcAfeeShow)
pic.twitter.com/sRzLhXGewN— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA)
April 8, 2022
The Ultimate Fighting Championship already has
plans in motion should one fighter get his hand raised on
Saturday.
UFC 273 will take place at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
on April 9, with 12 fights going down in Jacksonville, Fla., that
night. Besides the two title fights atop the billing, a
much-anticipated battle between Khamzat
Chimaev and Gilbert
Burns will take place on the main card. According to UFC head
Dana White on The Pat McAfee
Show on Friday, the promotion is already looking at what’s next
for Chimaev should he get past Burns.
“I think…that if Khamzat
Chimaev wins this weekend, we see him and Colby
Covington next,” White stated.
Chimaev has yet to taste defeat as a professional, racking up 10
finishes in 10 fights while never needing more than two rounds to
net a stoppage as a pro. This includes four appearances under the
UFC banner, with two coming at welterweight so far against Rhys McKee
and Jingliang
Li in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Chimaev will take on
ex-title challenger Burns in his third outing at 170 pounds under
the UFC banner since joining the roster in 2020. His other two wins
with the organization took place at middleweight, when he tapped
John
Phillips and then smashed Gerald
Meerschaert two months later.
“So I have a fight [card] coming up on ABC,” White explained, “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.”
Covington is coming off of a win over friend-turned-rival Jorge
Masvidal, claiming a five-round decision over him in a
non-title bout atop UFC 272 in March. The only man to beat “Chaos”
since 2015 is champ Kamaru
Usman, who did so twice in 2019 and 2021. Earning the interim
strap by beating Rafael dos
Anjos in 2018, he then lost it when the UFC stripped it from
him after bowing out of a title unification battle with Tyron
Woodley due to surgery. Over the years, Covington has won
against additional names in the sport like Robbie
Lawler and Demian Maia
as he remains a perennial contender in his weight class. After
defeating Masvidal, Covington called out lightweight Dustin
Poirier, but nothing appears to have come of that yet.