Colby Covington won a decision over his long-time foe, Jorge Masvidal this weekend at UFC 272. In the co-main event, Rafael dos Anjos dominated Renato Moicano and won himself a unanimous decision as well. Today we will be looking into what is next for the winners of UFC 272.
Colby Covington
Dana White said in the post-fight interview that he doesn’t think Covington will be next in line, but he can definitely see him fighting for the welterweight title again if he keeps on winning. With that being said Leon Edwards is probably next in line for a title shot. Covington called out Dustin Poirier after his fight with Masvidal but unless he plans to move down to 155 pounds or Poirier opts to move up, that fight doesn’t seem like it would happen.
Gilbert Burns will be fighting Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273 in April. Covington could step in to fight the winner of that match. The winner of that fight would likely be next in line for a title shot after Edwards.
Covington’s next fight: Winner of Burns-Chimaev
Rafael dos Anjos
Rafael dos Anjos should be fighting someone inside the top five of the lightweight division in his next fight. Islam Makhachev threw his name into the hat to fight RDA this past weekend but turned it down when the UFC offered it to him. They could fight each other in a fight eliminator since Charles Oliveira will be fighting Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in May for the lightweight title. Yes, Dana White has said it will be Beneil Dariush next, but there are still a lot of questions about his leg.
RDA’s next fight: Islam Makhachev
Bryce Mitchell
Bryce Mitchell defeated Edson Barboza via unanimous decision at UFC 272. This win makes Mitchell 15-0 and 6-0 in the UFC. Mitchell’s next fight should be against someone inside the top ten. Giga Chikadze is the first fighter to come to mind. Chikadze is a world-class kickboxer and has good takedown defense. Mitchell has shown time after time that he can take the fight to the ground and dominate top-level guys in the UFC. Chikadze, without a doubt, would be his biggest test and a win would spring him towards the top five in the division.
Mitchell’s next fight: Giga Chikadze
Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland knocked out Alex Oliveira at UFC 272 this past weekend. This was a great coming-out party in his welterweight debut. After his fight he was quoted saying ” I just beat one cowboy, I would hate to call out another.” Donald Cerrone was in the crowd and later said he has a fight coming up but would love to fight Holland after his fight in May. Holland went back on his word and said he would rather fight one of Donald Cerrone’s prodigies, Daniel Rodriguez. Kevin Holland versus Daniel Rodriguez has Fight of the Night written all over it and would be a great fight to make following Holland’s welterweight debut.
Holland’s next fight: Daniel Rodriguez
Sergey Spivak
Sergey Spivak manhandled Greg Hardy in the opening fight on the main card of UFC 272. This win makes Spivak 4-1 in his last five fights. His only loss in that span came to rising star Tom Aspinall at UFC Vegas 36 in September. One of his three UFC losses is to Walt Harris in his UFC debut in 2019. Harris is currently on a three-fight losing streak and in desperate need of a win. Harris is also currently one spot ahead of Spivak in the heavyweight rankings. This means Spivak would rise in the rankings with a win in the rematch, and it’s a good test to see how far “The Polar Bear” has come in the past few years.
Spivak’s next fight: Walt Harris
