Tyron Woodley’s Next Title Defense Could Come as Soon as November
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Tyron Woodley retained his belt with a comprehensive victory over Darren Till this past weekend at UFC 228.
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Although the question will be who does Woodley face next, the logical fight would be against the former interim champion, Colby Covington, who would have fought Woodley on Saturday but had undergone sinus surgery and ruled himself out.
The pair clearly don’t see eye-to-eye and the simple mention of
Covington has Woodley’s blood boiling. In his post-fight press conference, Woodley again was asked
if he’d fight “Chaos” next (transcribed via MMAFighting.com). “[Covington]
had a chance,” Woodley said at the post-fight press conference. “He
let Darren Till go out there and take his whooping for him. He
tried to pause and tried to wait for a bigger pay-per-view, because
his eyes got big. My thing is, I’m gonna fight anybody. I’m the
best in the world, anybody they put in front of me, they’re gonna
get beat up. If it’s Colby Covington, if it’s [Kamaru] Usman, if
it’s [middleweight champion] Robert
Whittaker. Whomever they want me to fight, we’re gonna do
it.”
Even though fellow welterweight Kamaru Usman travelled to Dallas at the request of the UFC and even weighed in as a potential replacement, it seems the UFC will most likely choose Covington as the next challenger to the 170-pound title as he was the interim champ and the fact that he has history with Woodley, which will inevitably sell more pay-per-views.
Woodley believes Covington doesn’t deserve a shot at the title and questioned his integrity after the normally outspoken fighter went quiet shortly after securing the chance to fight Woodley by claiming the interim belt.
“I’m not saying I am gonna fight him, because I don’t feel like he deserves my platform right now,” Woodley said. “He had his chance to be here. He bitched out, if you want to be honest and frank. He talked all this crap and when he got in the hot seat, the second he won that belt, I said, ‘Let’s come get this smoke.’ He got quiet. Instagram accounts got taken down for a brief moment and he didn’t say nothing.
“I think it’s an embarrassment to the sport and if that’s the next person that’s gotta get the work, you don’t have to do much to get me up for that fight. We’ll see.”
It seems “T-Wood” got through the fight with Till unscathed and is looking for a quick turnaround for his next fight after sitting out for more than a year due to injuries. Woodley said he liked the idea of a November fight and will wait for the UFC to get in contact with him.
“The more I fight, the better I get,” Woodley said. “And the most comfortable I get, the more confident I get. So I want to stay as active as possible. If November is a date they’re looking for a main event, I think they got their guy.”
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