Tyron Woodley: ‘I Am Fighting [Colby Covington], Hopefully Sooner Than Later’
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley only has one name on his mind for his next opponent and that’s Colby Covington.
The former teammates turned heated rivals have been on a collision course for the better part of the last year but timing and injuries have prevented them from actually facing each other.
Covington won the interim welterweight title in June but then opted to have sinus surgery to help his breathing and he was unable to compete three months later when the UFC tried to book him against Woodley in September.
Woodley then went onto defend his title against Darren Till but suffered a thumb injury that will keep him out until at least early 2019.
Just recently, the UFC attempted to book Woodley against Covington as the main event for UFC 233 in Anaheim but the reigning welterweight king is still recovering from this thumb surgery and it seems unlikely he’ll be able to fight as early as Jan. 26.
Unfortunately that leaves the UFC desperately searching for a main event for the card in Anaheim. In fact, the UFC has even tried to put together a different fight between Covington and fellow top five-ranked welterweight Kamaru Usman, although it’s unlikely that matchup will happen.
On Thursday, Woodley addressed his next fight via an Instagram Live session where he doubled down on his plans to fight Covington with hopes that he can announce a date and location very soon.
“I am fighting ‘Queefington’,” Woodley said while referring to Covington with the nickname he bestowed upon him. “When I’m fighting his little busted butt I don’t know. Hopefully sooner than later cause I know you all sick and tired of this dumb goofass videos that nobody’s f–king with, that don’t nobody think is funny, besides his dumbass. I know you all tired of him so sooner than you know, he will be getting that ass whooped and then you won’t have to worry about him no more.
“Because after I beat his ass, I promise you with everything I believe in, everything I love, everything I ride for, he will be very, very unlikely to want to talk s–t again.”
Prior to the dire need for a main event at UFC 233, sources had said that talks were underway for a potential showdown between Woodley and Covington at UFC 235 in March but even that seems up in the air as the organization tries to find a headline fight for the Jan. 26 card.
Covington has said that he’s not interested in facing Usman or anybody else because he’s earned his shot at the undisputed title, which means fighting Woodley.
Obviously, Woodley seems to feel the same way with his latest declaration that Covington is the next opponent he is targeting.
There’s still no word on the fight being finalized or any formal offers going out to the athletes with the UFC still focused on filling the main event for UFC 233 in January.
