For all intents and purposes, it looks like new welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be fighting Colby Covington in his first title defense.

That being said, as is the nature of mixed martial arts, it could also very well be ex-champion Tyron Woodley’s friend and longtime teammate Ben Askren who gets the call over Covington, should the challenger fail to take an opportunity to meet Usman or, as it appears from twitter, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz gets his preferred fight.

Although Askren would need to double check with a few people before accepting that call himself.

“I thought Colby and Marty was announced [Saturday] night,” Askren said, speaking on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour. “Look, listen, if Colby gets screwed again, I’ve got no issue with that. Colby is a jabroney. This was a path that I haven’t even gone down, because I didn’t really see a scenario where Tyron lost to Marty. So I hadn’t even started thinking this way, and now that [Usman’s manager Ali is] calling me out, I probably have to talk to Tyron a little bit and see where we go from there.”

For now however, Askren has his eyes on a man he’s long had a back and forth with in Liverpool’s Darren Till. At the UFC 235 post-fight press conference, Askren revealed he was heading to London next week to try and provoke a future bout with the winner of UFC London’s Till vs. Jorge Masvidal main event — something even more enticing after Till’s recent trash talking tweet.

Ben, your performance was shit.
You barely won.
You are ugly as fuck.
That chin is too big not to miss.
You have no respect for no one.
Ohh… did I say you were a curly headed fuck.
See you in London muppet! https://t.co/HTlDQP5m4g

— Darren Till (@darrentill2) March 3, 2019

“I think it’s a good fight [between Till and Masvidal],” Askren said. “I think Masvidal has the ability to beat Darren Till, but the best version of Jorge Masvidal doesn’t always show up. If the best version of Jorge Masvidal shows up, I think he’s got a decent chance of winning. But I think it’s more likely that Darren Till wins.”

All that being said, if a title fight gets put on his desk, then he’ll have to consider that option, so long as Woodley agreed.

“Yeah, I would consult Tyron first,” Askren said. “But as long as he kind of gave his blessing, yeah. Of course.”