This week, we are coming off Colby Covington’s victory over Robbie Lawler in New Jersey that sets up Covington, in theory, for the next welterweight title fight against champion Kamaru Usman.
It’s a two-man race between Covington and Jorge Masvidal with this week’s performance indicating that Covington is the frontrunner for the fight.
Outside of the octagon, the tumultuous relationship between the UFC and Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino appears to be done. This followed a series of events that included Cyborg’s team putting out a video that captioned a discussion between the fighter and UFC president Dana White. Cyborg posted an apology, admitting that her team mischaracterized what White said to her and outright fabricated the words he uttered. This appeared to be the final straw with White sitting down with UFC broadcaster Laura Sanko and announcing the former featherweight champion was free and the UFC is walking away from their exclusive negotiating window with the free agent.
While Justino appears free to negotiate, her bargaining power was severely lessened with the UFC pulling out of the bidding war.
Plus, the UFC travels to Uruguay this Saturday for a Fight Night card is low on star power but is headlined by a championship fight. Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is back defending her title against Liz Carmouche in a rematch from a 2010 meeting. Carmouche is one of two women, the other being Amanda Nunes, to hold victories over the current champion. They met nine years ago for a group called C3 Fights with Carmouche winning by TKO after a doctor’s stoppage.
Shevchenko is coming off one of the most brutal knockouts this year when she stopped Jessica Eye at UFC 238 this past June. Carmouche has won four of her last five fights and coming off decision victories over Jennifer Maia and Lucie Pudilova.
We spoke with Phil Chertok about all these stories:
POST: With Colby Covington’s victory over Robbie Lawler, has he eliminated any doubt regarding who Kamaru Usman should defend against next?
Phil Chertok: Colby Covington definitely should get the next title shot. He dominated a former champion and demonstrated a pace during five grinding rounds that are nothing short of spectacular. While his teammate Jorge Masvidal has made a good case for a shot at the belt in his own right, neither of his spectacular knockouts this year are over former champions. Add that ‘Chaos’ has already been crowned with a prestigious ‘Interim’ title, he makes the most sense to be the first defense for the new champion Usman.
When it comes to the attention Colby Covington has received for his persona, is everything fair game in this industry or there is a line that represents going too far for your personal taste?
I have a personal line that’s very far from the industry line. I’m OK with almost all of Colby’s shtick, I don’t really like it, but it doesn’t rub me the wrong way or bother me other than being a little corny. For some, simply associating himself with perhaps the most controversial figure of our time is going to turn them off immediately. The only area I find objectionable is when Colby stirs the waters on the racial divisions that are so prevalent in contemporary politics. Fight promotion has seen race-baiting as long as anyone can remember, the legend Muhammad Ali was notorious for pushing the envelop when promoting his bouts. But just because there are depths that others are willing to explore, doesn’t mean that I’m willing to dive in with them.
This week, it was reported by ESPN that Frankie Edgar is the move down to bantamweight. Do you like this move for Edgar and what is your shortlist of opponents that interest you for Edgar at the lower weight?
I do like this move because Frankie showed in his loss to featherweight champion Max Holloway, that he’s still got a lot left in the tank. Moving down the 135-pound division would allow us to answer any ‘What if?’ questions that we’ve had over the former lightweight champion’s remarkable career. In terms of first opponents, if healthy, Dominick Cruz seems to make the most sense. It would be a battle of two future Hall-of-Famers who are both known for their exceptional movement. Another good opponent would be Jimmie Rivera, who despite some tough times in recent bouts, is still a top contender and a tough fight for anyone in the division.
Do you have any final thoughts on how the UFC’s relationship with Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino disintegrated and where will she fight next?
It was a pretty depressing way for the relationship to dissolve. Cyborg had just secured a dominant win and was setting herself up for what was bound to be the biggest rematch in Women’s MMA history. Unfortunately, after a backstage interaction with UFC president, Dana White was misrepresented on social media, there was no saving what was an already deteriorating entity. In terms of next steps, the only logical opponent outside the UFC is former Olympian and PFL fighter Kayla Harrison. A fight with the Judo gold medalist would probably be at 155 pounds and would be one of the first times in her MMA career where Justino is the smaller competitor.
As a Fight Night main event, assess your level of interest in this Saturday’s Flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche?
As anyone who’s listened to our post-fight shows knows, I’m a huge fan of the flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. She’s a terrifying competitor who, when you include her kick-boxing record, has more professional fights than anyone else in the UFC. Her technique is second to none and she rarely makes a mistake. Her opponent Liz Carmouche is tough but is quite outmatched. Carmouche is game and I don’t think she’ll go down easily so I’m curious to see how Shevchenko solves the problem that is the former bantamweight title challenger.
You can hear Phil Chertok on our UFC POST Shows, which returns next Saturday after the UFC 241 card headlined by Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title