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A division riddled with talent, spearheaded by one of the most dominant champions in the promotion. Yet, the UFC welterweight division lacks any sense of clarity.
Kamaru Usman is in quite the tough spot as the champion of the UFC’s 170 pound division. He recently and dominantly dispatched friend turned foe Gilbert Burns, leaving many wondering who’s next for the ‘Nigerian Nightmare?’
When you look at the rankings, one would assume that you would be totally spoiled for choice when it comes to contenders. The top six within the rankings consists of Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Stephen Thompson, Leon Edwards, Gilbert Burns and Michael Chiesa.
Each name on that list, have either been mainstays within the division or have seen strong run of form in recent months. With such a stacked top 6, one would imagine there would be easy pickings for contenders – that is until you remember, Usman has already beaten all but two of them already.
With Usman having picked up wins over majority of the main contenders, the rest of the pack are looking to stake their claim to be next in line for a title shot. That is where the problem lies, amongst the top five in the division, none of them holds a win over the other. The nearest one you can consider? Stephen Thompson’s win over Jorge Masvidal. However, even with that, the fight occurred four years ago before Masvidal became the superstar that he is today.
Even with fighters such as Leon Edwards, the Birmingham native has had prolonged bout of inactivity and his return bout? A no-contest against a short notice opponent in Belal Muhammed. Edwards’ impressive streak aside, how does the UFC market him as a title contender on the back of that?
Colby Covington hasn’t fought since his TKO loss to Usman, neither has Jorge Masvidal – who was touted to be next in-line. However, even with Jorge, he may have stepped in on short notice against Usman, but the lack of action since makes it hard to push for his spot.
Should the matchmakers throw a curveball into the mix, there is questions of legitimacy there too. Whilst Stephen Thompson has been a consistent mainstay in the division, challenging for the title twice before – his two recent wins were against Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal, both of whom are ranked 10th and 11th.
Even Michael Chiesa, who is on a run of four wins, three of those opponents are now not even within the top ten except for Neil Magny, which was his most recent victory. Is that enough substance to call for a title shot?
As the champion of the division, it must be alarming for Usman, that his main challengers have a lack of leverage to call for the title. Both Masvidal and Covington are rematches – with the latter having been stopped by the champion. With both men inactive since their respective losses to Usman, fans have openly vocalised their desire to see the two battle for the top spot, however, even that bout seemingly fell apart after reportedly being done.
With a division stacked with talent, it is quite startling that there seems to be very little clarity or movement at the top. As the days pass and the call-outs continue, the direction of the division becomes more unclear, when will there be a breakthrough on the next clear challenger?
