Chael Sonnen: Colby Covington ‘a victim of his own success’ amid UFC welterweight title picture

Chael Sonnen wonders who UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington will fight next.

Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) has fallen short to former champ Kamaru Usman twice in title fights. He rebounded from his loss to Usman at UFC 268 last November with a lopsided decision win over ex-teammate and former title challenger Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March.

With a trilogy bout between newly crowned champ Leon Edwards and Usman likely to happen early next year, Khamzat Chimaev booked to face Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 headliner on Sept. 10, and rumblings of a potential matchup between Gilbert Burns and Masvidal, Sonnen questions who is left for Covington.

“How are you gonna get Colby to fight? I mean, getting Colby to the table isn’t the world’s easiest thing, and you could understand it from Colby’s position,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “This is a massive draw who does a great job of going out and letting the world know.”

He continued, “He’s the clearest No. 1 contender that the sport has, and he can’t fight for a championship. It puts him in a really tough spot. It does. Who could blame him for that? He’s becoming a victim of his own success. It’s a hard spot.”

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While several fighters have called out Covington, including rising contender Geoff Neal, Sonnen doesn’t see too much for Covington to gain in taking such fights.

“Who are you going to put Colby with? That’s all I’m asking,” Sonnen said. “Who do you guys want to see him with? It looks as though the pickings are becoming a little bit slimmer.”

He continued, “Once you do find it, you’re going to find a very tough guy in a very hard match. What’s in it for Colby? It’s a fair question. Everybody’s asking it. Every single fighter is asking it, but not every single fighter has been proven to have the level of success of Colby Covington.”

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Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie