The UFC's welterweight division has been in an interesting place since a new champion was crowned at UFC 235 when Kamaru Usman defeated Tyron Woodley to become the champion. There are contenders no longer in the title picture as upsets have continued to happen left and right. It was expected that the UFC Welterweight champ Kamaru Usman would finally get his grudge match with the former UFC interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington but due to injuries that Kamaru has been dealing with the fight never blossomed.
The #2 ranked welterweight in the division Colby "Chaos" Covington would recently get booked to face the former UFC welterweight champion and future UFC hall of famer #10 ranked "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler at UFC On ESPN 5 on August 3rd. A win from either of these 2 fighters could easily set up the next potential opponent for Kamaru usman. Colby Covington was last in the octagon at UFC 225 when he defeated top welterweight contender and former UFC Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos to become the UFC Interim Welterweight Champion. "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler is coming off of a controversial loss to "Funky" Ben Askren at UFC 235.
There has been a mix martial arts veteran that has been on a complete tear as of a late as he has continued to hand fighters upset after upset as Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal has jumped up to the #3 ranked fighter in the welterweight division as he has made a remarkable case for himself as the next challenger for the title. Last March Jorge Masvidal went to Liverpool, England to take on former title challenger Darren "The Gorilla" Till in his own country. Masvidal would then brutally knockout Darren Till in the 2nd round that left the crowd in silence. "Gamebred" Masvidal was at it again recently at UFC 239 where he faced Ben Askren and Jorge got the fastest knockout in UFC history in only 5 seconds to give Ben Askren his first loss in his mix martial arts career via flying knee. All eyes have been on Masvidal since that explosive knock out to see what his next move would be.
The #1 ranked fighter in the division the previous champion "The Chosen One" Tyron Woodley also has his eyes on making his return to the octagon coming off of an injury that caused him to pull out of his rematch that was booked between himself and "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler who is now facing Colby Covington. Tyron Woodley has recently come out and said he is really eyeing the rematch with Kamaru usman but there is truly no telling if that would happen anytime soon.
There are still top contenders in the division who are looking to make big statements as the #7 Anthony "Showtime" Pettis wants more gold but in a different division as he faces the highly anticipated return of Nate Diaz in a huge grudge match as these men have had issues with one another for a long time. Anthony Pettis is coming off of a huge knockout victory over Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson as he knocked him out with a superman punch. Nate Diaz is coming off of a decision loss to "the Notorious" Conor Mcgregor in 2016.
