Kamaru Usman remained the welterweight champion following an impressive fifth-round TKO victory over Colby Covington in their grudge match at UFC 245 this past weekend.
The attention now turns to who “The Nigerian Nightmare” should face next. Former champion Tyron Woodley will undoubtedly be campaigning for a rematch as will Leon Edwards who is on a seven-fight winning streak.
However, the most popular choice by far would be Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom after a year that saw him earn three knockout victories over the likes of Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz.
“Gamebred” is also who UFC president Dana White wants to see Usman face next as he believes it would be a “massive” bout.
Ultimately, it will come down to whether Masvidal wants the fight, especially as he seems to be targeting the more lucrative options such as Nick Diaz and Conor McGregor.
But if it does happen next, oddsmakers don’t see a new champion being crowned.
You can check out the opening odds below:
- Kamaru Usman: -260
- Jorge Masvidal: +200
That means you would have to bet $260 to win $100 on Usman, while a $100 stake on Masvidal would win you $200.
Nothing surprising here — Usman cemented his place as the best welterweight in the world following his win over Covington and is a bad matchup for just about everyone in the division.
And although Masvidal has upset the odds this year, he could certainly struggle against Usman’s dominant wrestling and clinch game — especially if there is no flying knee in play.
However, it’s interesting to note that Masvidal opened with slightly better odds than Covington who was +230.
Here are the opening odds for the pair’s last five fights:
Kamaru Usman last five fights
- vs. Colby Covington (W): -300
- vs. Tyron Woodley (W): +105
- vs. Rafael dos Anjos (W): -215
- vs. Demian Maia (W): -175
- vs. Emil Meek (W): -705
Jorge Masvidal last five fights
- vs. Nate Diaz (W): -175
- vs. Ben Askren (W): +170
- vs. Darren Till (W): +175
- vs. Stephen Thompson (L): +120
- vs. Demian Maia (L): +135
