What is Next for the UFC Welterweight Division After UFC 272?

March 5th was a crazy night for everybody watching UFC 272. Whether you did or didn’t watch the card before the main event, I think everybody can agree that the UFC welterweight division is about to have some big changes.

These “big changes” that the welterweight division is about to face are most likely pretty substantial. There is a new UFC title contender, Khamzat Chimaev, who will most likely give the UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, a run for his money if he can pull off a win at UFC 273 against Gilbert Burns. Kamaru Usman has been talking about fighting Canelo Alvarez, a boxing champion who is also the pound for pound boxer, to establish who the real ultimate fighter is.

This leads to another question. What is next for Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal? Colby Covington has lost twice, both times being controversial, to Kamaru Usman. So “Chaos” should and does deserve another title shot. It may not be now, but Colby Covington should get another title shot for the Welterweight belt before Usman retires or loses the belt. Right now, many people, including Chael Sonnen, have said that Israel Adesanya should fight Colby. I personally don’t think Covington should take this fight. It tends to be harder for wrestlers to move up weight classes, especially when the person who you are fighting is multiple inches taller. So, I think Covington should wait until Usman will take the fight. But we also need to know what Jorge Masvidal will do next.

So, Jorge Masvidal is coming off 3 losses, which is the most in his career. Although he has lost 3 consecutive times, the people he lost to were the champion, and also pound for pound male UFC fighter, Kamaru Usman and he also lost to Colby Covington. This does not put the BMF champion that far back into the rankings with him only ranking 7 in the welterweight division. Another theory people have is Masvidal vs. McGregor because McGregor is bigger now and could definitely fight at welterweight. This makes this fight logical. Now, a lot of fans would like to see this fight, but there is a portion of UFC fans who would like to see Masvidal fight someone else who is higher ranked. Some have suggested Masvidal vs. Chiesa 2 as a rematch of their fight in 2013. This fight makes absolutely no sense to me because ‘Gamebred’ choked Chiesa out. Both fighters have changed a lot since then and I just don’t think this fight makes any sense. Jorge Masvidal was scheduled to fight Leon Edwards at UFC 269 in December. Jorge had to pull out due to a broken rib and the fight was cancelled. This fight is a fight I would love to see. I think Jorge should fight Stephen Thompson or Leon Edwards as a rematch if he doesn’t fight McGregor.

Hopefully we get great fights in the future considering there are a lot of great welterweight title contenders and fighters.