Breaking: Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman Set For UFC 235

March 2’s UFC 235 from Las Vegas is beginning to take shape in major ways. News broke early this morning that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will take on Anthony Smith in the main event. Now, a second title fight has been added.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will meet surging contender Kamaru Usman at UFC 235:

Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman is a done deal for UFC 235 on 3/2, sources say. If all goes according to plan the fight will serve as co-main for Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith. However, unlike Woodley-Usman, Jones-Smith isn’t signed yet. Jones has to get his license on 1/29 first.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 6, 2019

The confusing UFC welterweight title picture has been a hot topic in MMA for weeks now. It was expected that Woodley would face former interim champion Colby Covington next. A heated social media battle ensued as a result.

But the UFC ultimately chose to go with Usman over Covington based on his recent win over Rafael dos Anjos and his willingness to fight anyone in January:

In the end, while Colby Covington was ready to go for 235, UFC chose to go with Usman because his stock rose mightily in their eyes after the RDA win + his subsequent willingness to fight anyone on short notice in January despite being injured. Covington held out and it cost him.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 6, 2019

Usman and his management have been flaunting a signed contract to fight Woodley online for some time. While Woodley claimed that he would fight both in 2019, he said he would face Covington first. The opposite appears true for the champ, who is returning from thumb surgery.

Woodley vs. Usman, as Helwani noted, is a done deal unlike UFC 235’s reported headliner between Jones and Smith. Jones still has to appear before the NSAC in order to be licensed due to his ‘atypical findings’ in recent drug tests that forced UFC 232 to be moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.