Dana White accused of lying about UFC 286 - 'Maybe Colby Covington caught him at the Palms again'

UFC president Dana White is seemingly adamant about Colby Covington getting the next title shot at welterweight.

White recently defended his stance, citing Covington's surprise appearance as the backup fighter for the UFC 286 title fight between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman last month. UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad has now accused White of lying, dismissing the narrative of Covington being the only one ready to cut weight.

According to 'Remember the Name', he was ready and eager to weigh in as the back-up fighter for the UFC 286 main event. The 34-year-old said during a UFC 287 media-scrum:

"Literally I was asking for that role. I'm walking around at 185, I could have made weight on Thursday. So when Dana says, 'Oh man he was the only one that was willing to do it,' I'm like, Don't lie on this situation. You want him to put him on a title fight for his third time, obviously there must be a reason for it. But don;t sit up there and make up lies like he deserved it, he earned it, he's number two blah, blah blah.'"

While White's support for Covington goes beyond Muhammad, he speculates that 'Chaos' might know some of the UFC president's secrets. 'Remember the Name' wonders if Covington caught White gambling at the Palms, where he was banned:

"I don't know...The only thing that really makes sense is him dropping the case or he has something on Dana. Maybe caught him at the Palms again or something. It's just weird."

Catch Muhammad's comments below:

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Dana White on Colby Covington getting the next title shot

Belal Muhammad is currently riding a nine-fight unbeaten streak topped off by a second-round TKO win over Sean Brady back at UFC 280 last October. Meanwhile, Colby Covington has gone 2-2 since 2019 and hasn't fought since a decision win over Jorge Masvidal last March.

However, Dana White insists Covington has earned his right to a third title shot since 2019. The 53-year-old said during the UFC 287 pre-fight presser:

"Colby Covington, like him or not, the guy showed up in London and cut weight. He did what he [was] supposed to do, he deserves the fight against Leon."

Catch Dana White's comments below:

The UFC head honcho's comments were boo'ed by Masvidal and Gilbert Burns.