UFC president Dana White isn’t making any snap decisions about Colby Covington’s next move. Covington, the UFC’s No 1-ranked welterweight contender, was back in action in the main event of UFC 272 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, taking on his former friend Jorge Masvidal. He won their sizzling grudge match with a lopsided unanimous decision, and promptly called out another former training partner in Dustin Poirier. But White isn’t sure a fight with Poirier, currently one of the UFC’s top lightweight contenders, is the right move for Covington. “You fight Poirier, then what? He has to go in some type of direction,” White said. “Does he go to [lightweight]? Does he go up to [middleweight]? Does he keep knocking guys off at [welterweight] and I eventually say, ‘OK, he is ready for a title again’?” UFC eyeing rematch between Zhang Weili, Joanna Jedrzejczyk While Covington is clearly one of the best fighters in the world, he has lost twice to reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. White admits that makes matchmaking for the 34-year-old American a difficult operation. “He’s in a weird situation,” White said. “Usman’s lapping everybody. I don’t know. We’ve got to see what’s next and talk to Colby and see what he really wants to do. We’ll see.” One way or the other, White could not hide his admiration for Covington’s skills in the Octagon – even if he is not a fan of the welterweight star’s persona outside it. “After a while, no matter how much you hate him, you at least gotta respect him,” White said. “I mean, he keeps winning fights. He’s a tough dude.” “I don’t know if I’ve said any bad words about him. I’ve said he is an a******. He is an a******. Does anybody disagree with that? He would even probably agree with that. I respect the kid.” With his victory over Masvidal, Covington (17-3) rebounded from a decision loss to Usman. That setback was preceded by a fifth-round stoppage win over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and a fifth-round TKO loss to Usman. The 33-year-old Poirier (28-7) last fought in December, when he was submitted by Brazil’s Charles Oliveira in a failed bit for the lightweight title. That loss was preceded by a pair of star-making stoppage wins over Conor McGregor. “Bring on another, man – ‘American Trash Team’,” Covington said at his post-fight press conference, when asked about his call-out of Poirier. “They keep sending guys to me. Just don’t expect to get them back in one piece. I’m ready to take out two of their fighters in one night. The ‘King of Miami’ showed out tonight.” Covington said he still has “unfinished business” with Usman, but is willing to take a “another tune-up fight” against Poirier, with the champ likely to be sidelined for a while after hand surgery. “Dustin weighs more than me. He’s just a bully who cuts a lot of weight,” Covington said. “I don’t cut weight, because I know I’m the best in the world. I don’t need to bully guys at lightweight. That’s an easy a** division. I’d rather fight them in my own weight class and prove I’m the best in the world, like I did tonight.” Poirier, who is currently on holiday in Jamaica, seemed to share White’s uncertainty with respect to the match-up, posting several tweets that seemed to acknowledge the call-out, which drew a smile from Covington when they were put to him at his presser. Bombaclot! — The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) March 6, 2022 “Let’s do it bro. Stop talking reckless to the media, man,” Covington said. “If I talk to the media and say things, I come out here and back it up. I’m a man of my word. We don’t have to do it in the UFC Octagon, we can do it in a park or the street. My only stipulation is you let the world watch it and enjoy themselves.” Either way, Covington wants a quick turnaround, and is targeting a return to Las Vegas in July for International Fight Week. “I gotta get back to work,” he said. “I’m injury free, I’m healthy. Dustin said it’s bulking season, he wants to come out and fight Nate [Diaz] at 170 [pounds]. He don’t have a fight – Nate’s fighting Conor [McGregor], so there’s no other fights for Dustin. He needs to come take this losing pay cheque just like his boy Jorge did.”