Ufc: What is next for the welterweight division?

(Photo courtesy of espn.com)

The Welterweight division has a champion, and his name is Leon “Rocky” Edwards. Teddy Atlas said just before the fight on twitter “the old trainers used to tell me that winning a title immediately improves you 30%. Let’s see.”

Atlas’s old trainers he talked to weren’t wrong, Leon Edwards did look better, and a 30% better Leon Edwards is a scary proposition for the rest of the 170 pound division. So what comes next?

The natural choice would be Colby Covington. To the shock of both Edwards and Usman, Covington flew all the way to London and stepped on the scale ready to step in at 170. This meant that he was right there ringside to witness Leon defend his title. It also meant he got the microphone right after the fight was done.

Covington hasn’t fought in over a year since his bout against bitter rival Jorge Masvidal. However, he was dominant in that performance.

A Covington-Edwards title fight would be big, there’s no doubt. But, if I were Dana White, I would setup a potential fight between Covington and Khamzat Chimaev and then have Edwards either fight Belal Muhammad or the winner of Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal.

Not only would the trash talking be absolutely tremendous, but it would be a good matchup. Chimaev, in lieu of the circus surrounding UFC 279, is still looking for a signature win and Covington really has not done enough to earn another shot. You have that headline a pay-per-view card, and that might do better than a lot of title fights.

As always with the future of the UFC, there is nothing guaranteed and we do not know what will happen. However, we do know that it will be fun to watch it all play out.