Dana White believes ‘overlooked’ Colby Covington belongs in UFC pound-for-pound rankings

UFC President Dana White has been making the media rounds this week to help promote the upcoming UFC 272 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for this Sat. night (March 5, 2022) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That means White has to say nice things about event headliner Colby Covington, widely considered one of the most unlikable fighters on the active roster. Let’s face it, $74.99 for a card that does not feature any title fights is a big ask.

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TWO TITLES UP FOR GRABS! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sat., Nov. 11, 2023, with a re-worked pay-per-view (PPV) main card. In the ESPN+-streamed main event, former 205-pound roost-ruler, Jiri Prochazka, will lock horns with ex-Middleweight kingpin, Alex Pereira, for the promotion’s vacant Light Heavyweight title. In UFC 295’s co-main event, top-ranked Heavyweight contenders, Sergei Pavlovich (No. 2) and Tom Aspinall (No. 4), will collide for the interim strap after division champion, Jon Jones, was injured with a torn pectoral muscle and forced to withdraw (video).

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“The truth is, if [current champion] Kamaru Usman doesn’t exist, Colby Covington is the 170-pound champion of the UFC,” White told Yahoo Sports. “I agree with you 100 percent. Colby should be in the pound-for-pound list. I agree with you, the fact that he’s so unliked, I think it makes him easy to be overlooked.”

Covington (16-3) is 11-3 under the UFC banner and currently ranked No. 1 at 170 pounds. That said, “Chaos” doesn’t hold any victories over an opponent presently ranked in the welterweight Top 15, making it hard to justify his place among the pound-for-pound greats.

That might change this weekend in “Sin City” where Covington battles ex-best friend and former American Top Team (ATT) teammate Jorge Masvidal. “Gamebred” is a two-time title challenger who holds the No. 6 spot in the official rankings.

To see the rest of the UFC 272 fight card and PPV lineup click here.