Tyron Woodley Seeking A Second Opinion Before Giving The Thumbs-Up For UFC 230

Tyron Woodley beat Darren Till just 11 days ago, but UFC fans could see him back in the Octagon as soon as November 3 at UFC 230.

The UFC are still yet to announce a main event for their upcoming pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden, but rumours of a Woodley vs Colby Covington surfaced quickly following the champion’s dominant win at UFC 228 and Woodley himself said he would be interested in fighting in New York during the post-fight press conference.

Since then, there’s been no official word on whether a fight between Woodley and Covington is in the works, but speaking on MMA Junkie Radio yesterday, Woodley stated he would still be interested on the basis of one condition.

“I’ve got an MRI on my thumb and I’m sending it for a second opinion,” Woodley said. “If I’m good, then I have no issue with fighting in November. The more I fight, the better rhythm I get in the swing of things.

“Obviously, I just fought, so I’m still in phenomenal shape. I’ve been eating pancakes, shrimp fried rice, brownies – taking a week and eating some bullc***.

“It all depends on how severe my thumb injury is. I dislocated it in the first round punching (Till) in the back of the head. I thought it was just jammed.”

Woodley featured on the UFC’s first ever fight card in Madison Square Garden when he fought Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to a draw to retain his UFC welterweight title. The American has since defended the belt a further three times with victories over Thompson, Demian Maia and Till earlier this month.

Covington reigned as the interim UFC welterweight champion for less than three months after defeating Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 via a unanimous decision. The American Top Team man was then expected to face Woodley at UFC 228, but after he pulled out of the fight citing the need to have sinus surgery, the UFC booked Woodley vs Till and stripped Covington of his interim belt.

The UFC 230 fight card is currently as follows:

Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz
Ronaldo Souza vs. Dave Branch
Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman
Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya
Lyman Good vs. Sultan Aliev
Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata
Brian Kelleher vs. Domingo Pilarte
Karl Roberson vs. Jack Marshman
Julio Arce vs. Sheymon Moraes
Shane Burgos vs. Kurt Holobaugh
Jason Knight vs. Jordan Rinaldi