Following speculation and comments from Dana White that Kamaru Usman could be next for Tyron Woodley, the welterweight champ’s assured fans he’s going to throw hands with Colby Covington.
For a little while now the consensus has been that Woodley and Covington were going to finally fight. Key reasons being that the rivals have been pushing for the bout, and Covington won the interim welterweight title this past summer, by defeating Rafael dos Anjos (although, he passed on a September match-up with Woodley since he was scheduled to have nasal surgery. Woodley proceeded to submit Darren Till).
But, following Usman’s impressive win over RDA last weekend, White said the surging welterweight might be next for Woodley. After that there were reports the UFC was looking at having Usman fight Covington at UFC 233 on January 26th, since Woodley is still recovering from hand surgery.
Well, Woodley recently held an Instagram session for fans, and while doing so, the decorated wrestler reported this (quotes via MMA NYTT):
“I am fighting ‘Queefington’,” Woodley said while referring to his rival. “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.”
There you have it. There’s a couple of things to note here. First, chances are most fans are going to welcome these comments. While there’s no question that Usman also deserves a title shot – he’s won all 9 of his UFC fights – there’s certainly much more of a backstory to Woodley – Covington. After all, they are former training partners and Covington is currently one of the more controversial figures in the game. So, this fight will likely move more views right now that Woodley – Usman.
Second, considering Woodley clearly wants to fight Covington really badly, and that the latter wants to fight for the title, it would be pretty surprising if this isn’t Woodley’s next bout. In other words, the UFC’s going to have to look elsewhere for a main event for its January 26th card, unless Woodley and his team decide he can compete on January 26th.