Dana White Hopes to Book Tyron Woodley vs. Colby Covington at UFC 233
A long simmering rivalry may finally come to a head at UFC 233 in Anaheim with UFC president Dana White confirming that he hopes to book welterweight champion Tyron Woodley against Colby Covington on the card.
White confirmed the news on Tuesday during an episode of UFC Unfiltered.
“Ideally, I would love to do that in Anaheim, January 26,” White said about Woodley vs. Covington. “That would be awesome if I could pull that off.”
Sources have confirmed that the fighters have been contacted about facing off on Jan. 26 as the main event for UFC 233 but there’s still one major obstacle standing in the way.
Woodley had thumb surgery following his second round submission win over Darren Till back in September and it’s unclear at this time if he’ll be healed and ready to go as early as January.
UFC 233 currently includes a champion versus champion fight as flyweight king Henry Cejudo puts his title on the line against bantamweight title holder T.J. Dillashaw, who is making the drop down to 125 pounds for the fight. UFC 233 takes place in Anaheim on the same night Bellator MMA is promoting a card in Inglewood featuring the finals of their heavyweight grand prix as well as a title defense from middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi.
Additional sources have confirmed that if UFC 233 doesn’t work out, the idea of Woodley facing Covington at UFC 235 in March has also been floated but again nothing has been determined yet.
The former teammates turned heated rivals have been on a collision course for nearly a year already but injuries and bad timing have prevented Woodley from clashing with Covington yet.
Covington won the interim welterweight title in June but then had sinus surgery to help him breathe better and it prevented him from making a quick turn around to fight as early as September.
The UFC ended up booking Woodley against Till instead and he made short work of the British contender. Unfortunately, Woodley ended up with the thumb injury that put him back on the sidelines for the remainder of 2018.
Now the welterweight title fight is once again on the horizon but it remains to be seen which card will ultimately land Woodley vs. Covington next year.
