Tyron Woodley Defends Title Against Kamaru Usman in UFC 235 Co-Main Event

Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has his next title defense set but he will be facing upstart contender Kamaru Usman rather than settling a long standing grudge against Colby Covington.

Multiple sources close to the fight confirmed that bout agreements have been issued and signed for the title bout that is expected to serve as the co-main event at UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas. ESPN initially reported the fight as a done deal on Sunday.

Usman received his contract for the fight in mid-December and showed off the fact that he had already signed on the dotted line while he was asking Woodley to do the same.

Meanwhile, Woodley was focused on a showdown against Covington, who won the interim welterweight title last June but never actually got the chance to battle for the undisputed championship.

Covington turned down a fight against Woodley at UFC 228 just three months after his win over Rafael dos Anjos to become champion because he was scheduled to undergo a sinus surgery to help him with breathing problems.

Then Covington was expected to face Woodley in January at UFC 233 but the raining champion couldn’t get cleared from a thumb surgery he had following his previous win over Darren Till in September.

The UFC attempted to put Covington into a fight against Usman in January after he dominated dos Anjos this past November but the former interim champion was only interested in facing Woodley.

It seems that situation combined with Usman’s willingness to face anybody the UFC threw at him on short notice or not ultimately put him at the top of the contender’s list for the welterweight title shot.

Now Usman will get his opportunity against Woodley at UFC 235 where they are expected to serve as the co-main event to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defending his belt against Anthony Smith in the headliner.