Dan Lambert says he has been told Covington vs. Usman is next ‘100 percent’

After Colby Covington beat Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 to win the interim welterweight title, the expectation was that he would fight Tyron Woodley for the undisputed belt. They do not like each other and it would have been one of the bigger fights of the year. However, “Chaos” was passed up not once but twice at UFC 228 and UFC 235. On those cards, Woodley beat Darren Till and then lost to Kamaru Usman.

Following Usman winning the belt, UFC President Dana White said Colby Covington was next for a title shot. But for months now, nothing has been said and Usman’s manager has talked about Ben Askren or Jorge Masvidal getting the title shot instead.

Well, according to American Top Team owner and Covington’s manager in Dan Lambert he has been told Covington vs. Usman is next no matter what.

“I’ve been told the fight is going to happen 100 percent. Just depends on Usman,” Lambert said to BJPENN.com. “I know after his fight against Woodley he needed surgery. I was told it would be soon but now told it may be a little while longer. They are waiting for Usman on a date. Colby is ready to fight and waiting to fight.”

“Chaos” has been ready to fight for months. He was ready in January, but UFC 233 never came to fruition. But, according to Lambert, Covington has always been in the gym training preparing for both Woodley and Usman.

Colby Covington is hoping for summer scrap

“Colby has never been out of training other than a few week window when he had surgery. He has been ready to fight since then. So the theory of Colby not wanting to fight is kind of bullshit,” Lambert explained. “He got passed over ever since. Colby wants to fight so he was hoping for June or July but that doesn’t seem likely. Then we were hoping for August but that card filled up rather quickly.”

The feud between Woodley and Covington was one of the biggest in the sport. That being said, Usman and Covington seem to not like each other either. However, according to Lambert, the Woodley fight would have been the bigger of the two, but this fight still will be heated in the build-up to the bout.

“I don’t know if it would have been bigger than T-Wood,” he said. “I think that would have been the best fight for the UFC to do. There is a lot of heat between him and the UFC. It is legit, not manufactured. Those two guys genuinely hate each other.”

Do you think Kamaru Usman will defend his title against Colby Covington next?

This article first appeared on  5/17/2019