I disagree with you, as do most bodybuilders and physical trainers. Muscle mass burns calories. The more muscles you have, the more you have to eat to keep them. So by focusing on building strength and muscle first, it’ll be easier to lose the fat later. Plus, people who are brand new to weightlifting get something called newb gains, where they can both build muscle and burn fat at the same time. Once you’ve been at it a while you can’t do that anymore. You need to either bulk (and gain some fat), or shred, and lose fat (and some muscle).