Dana White: Tyron Woodley Knows Rafael dos Anjos Is His Next Opponent

UFC president Dana White promises he holds no ill will towards his welterweight champion Tyron Woodley but that doesn’t mean he’s getting the fight he wants.

Woodley has been asking for a showdown against Nate Diaz, who teased his return to action just recently after the two fighters were first rumored for a possible showdown at UFC 219 this past December.

Diaz’s declaration that he wanted to fight again had Woodley once again calling for the matchup but White shot him down in emphatic fashion. Now a couple of weeks removed from that incident, White says he’s on good terms with Woodley but his next fight will come against Rafael dos Anjos whether that’s what he wants or not.

“Me and Tyron are cool. I love the kid. He’s a good kid. I want him to fight. Rafael dos Anjos is his next fight. It’s a good fight. It’s a great fight. It’s a fight people want to see,” White told TMZ.

“Believe me, we’ve talked and he knows that’s the fight. He knows dos Anjos is the fight. Dos Anjos is the fight people want to see.”

White added that giving Diaz a welterweight title shot just makes no sense, especially considering he’s coming off a loss to Conor McGregor in his last fight and has more losses than wins in the welterweight division.

Meanwhile, dos Anjos has gone undefeated since moving to 170 pounds with back-to-back wins over top 10 fighters Neil Magny and former champion Robbie Lawler.

“The thing is for Nate Diaz, we’ve been offering Nate Diaz fights. Nate doesn’t want to fight. Right now Nate isn’t in line for a title shot,” White said. “Dos Anjos just beat Robbie Lawler, which is a big deal. Very impressive in how he did it, so he deserves the fight.”

There’s no timeline for when Woodley would face dos Anjos, although rumors have been swirling that it’s possible the welterweight title fight could land in Chicago for UFC 225 in June.