Michael Chiesa sees many options for next opponent, but wants Colby Covington fight most

Michael Chiesa is currently riding a three-fight winning streak in the welterweight division with wins over Carlos Condit, Diego Sanchez, and Rafael dos Anjos.

With his current win streak in place, Chiesa is looking to be smart and strategic with his upcoming opponents. During an interview on The Luke Thomas Show, Chiesa laid out his plans for the welterweight division and says he is confident he will fight this year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

🔊@MikeMav22 lays out the most attractive welterweight options for him when MMA action returns #TLTS @lthomasnews
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— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) April 14, 2020

“Yeah I’m confident, I’m confident I’ll fight in 2020,” Chiesa said. “I’m not going to deviate away from my regiment. There’s fights that I want, there’s matchups that interest me, but I’m not going to chase that matchup and get away from my regiment because there is no forgiveness. Let’s say they [UFC] call me and say ‘Hey do you want to fight on Fight Island in six weeks’ and it’s against one of the guys I want to fight, yeah I’ll do it but there’s no pardon once this thing ends. I’m in the Top-10. I’m not going to risk this position that I’ve been in to chase a matchup. I’m sticking to my regiment, sticking to my way I’ve been getting it done.”

Chiesa continued on to say that he is only looking at fighters ranked above him, naming Gilbert Burns, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Leon Edwards, Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington as potential adversaries.

“Definitely guys ranked above me,” Chiesa said. “Burns, I think him and I are on a crash course. I love the guy, I think he’s great. We’ve been kind of picking at each other on social media. I’ll jump on his live feeds and message him, he’ll do the same for me. Awesome guy, styles make fights, I think that’s a fun fight. There’s Wonderboy, there’s Leon, there’s Tyron. There’s all these guys ahead of me.

“There’s Colby,” Chiesa added. “That’s the one I want the most. I want the Colby fight the most. That’s just MMA math. If I fought Colby, and I beat him — and I could beat him, and I would beat him, it’s a good matchup for me — I beat Colby, I think that puts me in the best position I could be in with one win. Whereas these other guys, I’d probably have to beat Burns then I’d have to beat a Woodley or a Leon, or somebody, to get in a position I would get in if I beat Colby, because he’s still the number-one guy. I’m just doing MMA math. I’ll take the tougher fight if I have to win one fight than to fight two of these other guys twice. But anybody above me for sure.”

Michael Chiesa sounds like he knows exactly what and who he wants next as he continues to climb up the ranks in the welterweight division and it’ll be interesting to see where the UFC decides to go with him.

Who do you want to see him fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/15/2020.