Former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington and former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler have verbally agreed to fight each other at UFC Fight Night 156 which will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark on August 3.
The fight will be the main event and the news was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN. This news has surprised MMA fans, to say the least as it was widely expected that Covington would get a shot at UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Breaking: Colby Covington vs. Robbie Lawler has been verbally agreed to headline UFC Fight Night on Aug. 3 in Newark, per UFC president Dana White and additional sources. pic.twitter.com/hx8XeqZNMy
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 25, 2019
This will be Covington’s first fight inside the Octagon after more than a year’s layoff. He last fought against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 225 which took place on June 10, 2018, in Chicago and defeated him via unanimous decision.
On the other hand, Lawler is coming off of a controversial submission loss against Ben Askren at UFC 235 which took place in March. He was initially scheduled to fight Tyron Woodley in a rematch, but the fight had to be called off as Woodley suffered an injury.
In fact, even though many fans were surprised by the fact that UFC is moving ahead with this fight, top welterweight contender Ben Askren was hardly surprised.
Well guess it is time to say told you so. https://t.co/RqZGtvQbMm
— Funky (@Benaskren) June 25, 2019
Do you guys think Covington deserved a shot at the UFC title? Who do you think wins this fight?
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