After altercation with Covington, Abdelaziz says Kamaru Usman will fight Ben Askren next

Shortly after Kamaru Usman defeated Tyron Woodley to capture the UFC welterweight belt at UFC 235, he and his manager Ali Abdelaziz got into a heated altercation with former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington (see the video here).

While UFC President Dana White has been adamant that the first shot at the new UFC welterweight champ Usman will go to Covington, Abdelaziz is now calling for a fight between Usman and Ben Askren, who defeated Robbie Lawler on the UFC 235 main card.

Abdelaziz, who actually threw a punch at Covington during their recent run-in, made this call on Twitter.

“[Kamaru Usman] vs [Ben Askren] next,” he wrote.

Ben Askren, unsurprisingly, seems to be all for this plan. In his eyes, it makes more sense than a fight between Usman and Covington.

“Makes more sense than dumb dumb [Colby Covington],” Askren said in response to Abdelaziz.

While this suggestion from Abdelaziz is all well and good, it’s worth reminding that Dana White has assured Covington will get his long-awaited shot at the title next.

“There was a lot of ruckus going on over there in [Covington’s] area,” White said after UFC 235, referencing a conversation he had with Covington in the crowd. “He almost got into it with mama Woodley at one point and everything else. That was like the third time I’d gone over to him that night.

“So I just told him, ‘Listen, you’re going to get this title shot. Don’t f*ck this up. Just relax. You and all your guys relax. If anything goes down, let our people handle it, and we’re going to take you in the back in a little while here and do some interviews.’ That’s all I said to him.”

Askren, meanwhile, seems to be targeting a fight with the winner of the upcoming fight between Jorge Masvidal and Darren Till.

Who do you want to see the new champion Kamaru Usman fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/4/2019.