Dana White reacts to ‘Edwards vs. Usman 3’, confirms Colby Covington will receive next title shot

By Chris Taylor - March 18, 2023

UFC President Dana White has shared his reaction to ‘Edwards vs. Usman 3’, this while confirming Colby Covington will get the next title shot.

Dana White, Colby Covington, UFC, UFC 286, Edwards vs. Usman 3

Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA) and Kamaru Usman (20-3 MMA) collided for a third time this evening in London, with the promotion’s coveted welterweight title up for grabs.

Edwards entered the contest sporting a ten-fight winning streak, his most recent being his stunning knockout victory over Usman at UFC 278. Coincidentally, Leon’s most previous defeat had come way back in December of 2015, when he was outpointed by ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC on Fox 17.

Meanwhile, Kamaru Usman (20-3 MMA) entered the Octagon looking to rebound from his title loss to Leon Edwards this past August. That setback had marked Usman’s second career defeat and his first loss since 2013.

After five rounds of thrilling back and forth action, Leon Edwards was declared the winner of tonight’s UFC 286 main event by way of majority decision (48-46 x2, 47-47). It was an extremely close fight and one that Dana White admittedly had trouble scoring.

White spoke to reporters at the post-fight press conference and shared the following thoughts (via Aaron Bronsteter of TSN):

“White says that he didn’t really score the main event and says it was a tough fight to score. He wasn’t sure who was going to win until Bruce Buffer told him.”

“White says that he expected Usman to wrestle more and when he did try to, Edwards did a good job defending. White believes Edwards entered tonight with a different level of confidence.”

In addition to sharing his thoughts on ‘Edwards vs. Usman 3’, Dana White also confirmed that backup fighter Colby Covington will receive the next shot at Leon’s welterweight title.

“White then confirms it will be Leon vs. Colby next.”

Colby Covington was of course in attendance for tonight’s UFC 286 main event and made his presence known.

Are you surprised that Dana White and the UFC will be giving Colby Covington the next title shot against Leon Edwards? Share your thoughts in the comment section!