Edwards, Covington and Muhammad are the top dogs at welterweight, but

NEWARK, N.J. — Belal Muhammad doesn’t have to tell people to “Remember the name,” any longer. He’s now the bona fide top contender for the UFC welterweight title after beating Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision in Saturday’s co-main event at UFC 288.

While Colby Covington will get the next title shot against champion Leon Edwards, Muhammad will wait in the wings. Unless plans drastically change, Muhammad will get the winner of Edwards vs. Covington sometime in the future.

Welterweight continues to be one of the most fascinating divisions in the UFC. There are a lot of great fighters near the top of the division — Edwards, Covington, former champion Kamaru Usman and now Muhammad. Adding to that, there is a ton of depth down the rankings and a few blue-chip up-and-comers just a couple of wins away from that rarefied challenger air.

As we head into summer, let’s look at where the weight class stands, who the players are, which matchups are booked, and which fights are destined to come to fruition.

What’s next for champion Edwards?

Covington, for sure. Muhammad and Burns said last week that they hoped their performances Saturday would sway the UFC into making a change and slotting them into the next challenger spot. With all respect to an excellent performance by Muhammad, that was an extremely long shot before they even entered the Octagon. Covington is the contender the UFC believes draws the most eyes, and the promotion has been dead set on Edwards getting him next.

The original hope was that Edwards vs. Covington could happen in London at a second July pay-per-view. Edwards won’t be ready by then, so that idea was scrapped and the UFC won’t be going to England this summer. Now, the welterweight title fight could happen as soon as August, sources told ESPN. Boston is the front-runner for UFC 292 that month, and Chicago is in the mix, too, sources said.

The one caveat is the UFC likes the…