Rafael dos Anjos admits Colby Covington deserves UFC 225 interim title fight

Rafael dos Anjos isn’t exactly a fan of Colby Covington, but he doesn’t have an issue with being paired up with him for a UFC interim welterweight title fight at UFC 225.

Some may argue Covington has talked his way into the interim title shot — a title eliminator to see who is next in line to face champ Tyron Woodley — but dos Anjos believes “Chaos” mostly deserves it. Covington is riding a five-fight winning streak, which includes wins over Demian Maiaand Dong Hyun Kim.

“He was the last guy to beat Demian Maia, the last title contender. Now, (Kamaru) Usman beat him, too, but when the fight was set up, he was the last guy to beat the last title contender,” dos Anjos told MMAWeekly.com’s Damon Martin at UFC 225 media day on Thursday. “I think the trash talk helped a little bit, too, boosted him a little bit, but at the end of the day, he was the last guy to beat the last title contender.

“The fight was supposed to be with Tyron, but Tyron didn’t want to fight, so I’m fighting [Covington].”

Dos Anjos vs. Covington was put together because Woodley suffered a shoulder tear in his most recent title defense, a win over Maia at UFC 214 last July, and has yet to fight since then. Woodley is targeting a return in August.

The interim title fight co-headlines UFC 225, which takes place at United Center in Chicago on Saturday.