Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington to co-main event UFC 225 in Chicago

An Interim Welterweight title bout between Rafael dos Anjos and the outspoken Colby Covington will co-headline UFC 225 in Chicago.

The fight was officially announced during today’s 25th Anniversary Press Conference in Brooklyn where both fighters were present to take questions from the media.

The bout was originally rumored to co-headline UFC 224 in Brazil but that would not be the case, likely due to fear for Covington’s safety due to his unsavory comments about the Brazilian people. Covington commented that he will “never go back to that dump” during today’s presser.

Per UFC President Dana White, current UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley will be on the shelf until August due to a shoulder injury. Woodley’s last title defense came at UFC 214 last summer in Anaheim.

Here is the current card for UFC 225 ‘Whittaker vs. Romero’ as it stands today:

Middleweight Championship Main Event
Robert Whittaker (c) (19-4) vs. Yoel Romero (13-2)

Interim Welterweight Title Bout
Rafael dos Anjos (28-9) vs. Colby Covington (13-1)

Women’s Strawweight Bout
Claudia Gadelha (15-3) vs. Carla Esparza (13-4)

Heavyweight Bout
Alistair Overeem (43-16) vs. Curtis Blaydes (9-1)

Welterweight Bout
CM Punk (0-1) vs. Mike Jackson (0-1)

Flyweight Bout
Joseph Benavidez (25-4) vs. Sergio Pettis (16-3)

Heavyweight Bout
Andrei Arlovski (27-15) vs. Tai Tuivasa (7-0)

Light Heavyweight Bout
Rashad Evans (19-7-1) vs. Anthony Smith (28-13)

Featherweight Bout
Mike Santiago (21-11) vs. Dan Ige (8-2)

Heavyweight Bout
Rashad Coulter (8-3) vs. Allen Crowder (9-3)