An interim welterweight title fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington is now official for UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 12th.
The fight had been previously reported to have been in the works and has now been given the green light to serve as the co-main event for the show underneath the headlining bantamweight title showdown between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington.
Former lightweight champion RDA has been in excellent form since moving up to welterweight in June of last year, defeating former strikeforce titleholder Tarec Saffiedine in his divisional debut, followed by a first round submission win over Neil Magny and then a decision win over ex-170lb champ Robbie Lawler.
Meanwhile, Colby Covington’s consistent run of form in the UFC has snowballed into a major title push following a step-up in competition recently that’s seen him earn wins on the scorecards against the likes of Dong Hyun Kim and Damien Maia, while his controversial antics on the mic and outside of the cage have also helped gain him the attention neccessary to help get into title contention.
The winner of the fight will claim the interim title and likely go on to fight current 170lb champion Tyron Woodley later in 2018.
