Dana White: Kamaru Usman Promised Welterweight Title Shot at UFC 235

UFC President Dana White has confirmed Kamaru Usman will fight for the welterweight title at UFC 235 in March, and it remains to be seen whether he'll face champion Tyron Woodley or someone else.

Earlier this month, Usman took to social media to share a photo of a bout agreement, challenging Woodley:

Per MMAJunkie's John Morgan, White confirmed a title fight will be happening, although there was no mention of Woodley.

Woodley has held the welterweight title since 2016 but only fought once since his win over Demian Maia at UFC 214 in July 2017. He beat Darren Till at UFC 228, with interim champion Colby Covington sitting out to recover from surgery.

The champion took to social media as well, taking a shot at Covington (warning: NSFW language):

Covington hasn't fought since winning the interim title against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 225, and Usman put himself in position by beating the Brazilian at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters finale in November.

His manager Ali Abdelaziz told MMAjunkie Radio that Usman deserves the shot after Covington backed out of his chance and also refused to fight Usman in early 2019:

"Brother, I don't need to wait on Woodley,. He's the UFC champion. First of all, he was ready to fight Colby Covington, just to be fair to Woodley, because I think we're not fair to Woodley sometimes. I believe he's one of the greatest welterweights of all time, my opinion. But I think right now he was ready to fight Colby Covington, and he was the interim belt. Colby Covington said, 'No, my nose hurts.'

"Usman just had a crazy performance over (Rafael Dos Anjos), five-round domination. How do you not give it to him? And he was willing to fight Colby Covington in January and February, but Covington said no. That's why I went to Dana and said, 'He said no. We're ready to fight now, injured.' Shoutout to the UFC. I think sometimes we smash the UFC, but I've got to give them a shoutout for giving the guys the titles they deserve, and Usman (expletive) deserves it."

Jim Young/Associated Press

While Woodley only fought once in 2018, he has defended his title four times and is one of the most active champions. If Usman is to fight for the belt in March, it will most likely be against Woodley.

That would leave Covington out of a title fight yet again, and, per Morgan, the welterweight division would be in turmoil:

The 31-year-old Usman hasn't lost since 2013 and notched three wins this year, two of which came against former lightweight champion Dos Anjos and contender Maia. Covington also has just the single loss on his resume.