Tyron Woodley Sets Sights On Middleweight Title After ‘Big Brothering’ Usman
Lately, the UFC welterweight title picture has been an absolute mess that only now has some clarity.
Champion Tyron Woodley most recently fought in September. He demolished Darren Till in the main event of UFC 228. ‘The Chosen One’ needed thumb surgery after the win, however. The UFC needed a headliner for January 26’s now-postponed UFC 233, and Woodley was called out for not defending his title in four months.
Never mind the fact that few UFC champions make that quick of turnaround these days. They simply don’t.
Regardless, a three-way slog of title contention between Woodley, Colby Covington, and Kamaru Usman ensued. Usman finally got the next title shot after Covington reportedly turned down too many fights. He pointed to a recent procedure for sinusitis. Seeming to be a more effective company man, Usman received the title shot against “The Chosen One” at UFC 235.
Not His Decision
That was somewhat of a surprise due to the pre-installed rivalry Woodley had with Covington. But on today’s edition of ‘Ariel Helwani‘s MMA Show,’ Woodley said who he fought wasn’t his decision to make. He did think his beef with Covington was more built up and the Usman match could have been built
But now that he is fighting Usman, he said he was far from ready to fight him:
According to T-Wood, “The Nigerian Nightmare” is simply a less-evolved version of himself where he was 5-6 years ago. Because of that dynamic, he had to “b
Yet Woodley isn’t done with Covington just yet either. He said he hopes he sits out for a title shot. The reasoning for that is so he can eventually make him never want to fight again:
That might sound like Woodley is looking past UFC 235 and Usman, but the next aspect of his career he revealed made him seem extra confident.
Woodley said his new rap album was coming out on March 4, two days after his bout with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’ In that sense, he was betting on himself:
Finally, Woodley said he plans on defending his title over Covington and Usman then fighting for the 185-pound belt at the end of the year:
Woodley has monstrous plans for 2019, and that all begins with Usman at UFC 235. He seems to have a lot on his plate in addition to looking towards potential future fights. Will that come back to haunt him in Las Vegas this March?
