Dana White Reveals Next Fights For Conor McGregor & Tyron Woodley
Tyron Woodley scored the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career late last month when he steamrolled through Robbie Lawler in the first round of the main event of UFC 201 (July 30, 2016) to become the newly minted UFC 170-pound champion. Despite the triumphant victory, Woodley received quite a bit of criticism in the aftermath of the bout when he showed interest in fighting big names like fan favorite Nick Diaz, who’s coming off of a suspension, and former champion Georges St. Pierre, who hasn’t competed since 2013, rather than deserving No. 1-contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
In a recent interview with UFC.com, however, UFC President Dana White touched on the state of the welterweight division, as well as the highly anticipated rematch between Nate Diaz and featherweight champion Conor McGregor which will take place at 170-pounds. White said that he expects McGregor to drop down and defend his 145-pound title after UFC 202, also confirming that “Wonderboy” will indeed get the next shot at gold:
“I fully expect Conor to come back and defend his 145-pound title,” White said in an exclusive interview. “I think that Nate feels his brother should have the fight at 170, but Nick is not going to come back and fight for the title right away.
“There are other guys deserving of a title shot. Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is going to fight for the 170-pound title and then we’ll see what happens with Nick and Nate.”
Thompson has won a super impressive seven straight including back-to-back dominant victories over former champion Johny Hendricks and longtime top contender Rory MacDonald. Prior to beating Lawler, Woodley had won two straight over the likes of Dong Hyun Kim and Kelvin Gastelum.
A date and venue has not yet been determined for the bout.
