Tyron Woodley Would Return To Meet Johny Hendricks At UFC 189

The UFC welterweight championship is set to be defended in the co-main event of the blockbuster UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) on July 11, 2015 from the MGM Grand as reigning kingpin “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler puts his strap on the line against top contender Rory MacDonald. In the ultra-competitive 170-pound division, it’s unclear who will get the next shot post-UFC 189, but one man in the running for a shot could be No. 3-ranked Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley.

Woodley has looked quite impressive as of late winning four of his last five, with three being by stoppage and his only loss coming to now title challenger MacDonald. “The Chosen One” most recently scored a decision win over rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at January’s UFC 183, but suffered a foot injury in the bout.

However, speaking with MMA Junkie at UFC on FOX 15 on April 18, 2015, Woodley stated that he’s already slowly getting back into the swing of things:

“I’ve already started with some striking and conditioning, just to make my body strong,” Woodley said. “When my leg catches up, I’ll get up to speed.”

Despite his recent successes, there may be one man who’s standing in the way of Woodley earning a title shot and that would be No. 1-ranked former champion Johny Hendricks who recently scored a one-sided decision win over Matt Brown at March’s UFC 185.

Woodley discussed his interest in possibly competing in a title eliminator bout against Hendricks noting that “Big Rigg” could be the guy to get him to a title shot:

“Johny knows I respect him. He respects me. We talked about this at (UFC 167),” Woodley said. “He said, ‘You’re coming for me next.’ I’m not really coming for anybody. I’m coming for the world title. A lot of guys want a title shot. I don’t want a title shot – I want an opportunity to prove I’m the best fighter in the world, and I believe I am. I believe I’m the strongest, I believe I’m the fastest. I believe I’m well-rounded.

“I don’t know what he has in his future. It’s not that I’m calling him out or don’t like him – he might be the person who gets me to the title shot, that’s all.”

Hendricks currently doesn’t have a fight scheduled, and a scrap with Woodley would make a lot of sense based on the divisional rankings. “The Chosen One” also expressed his interest in making the fight for the same night as the title will be defended at UFC 189. Despite targeting a late July or August return, Woodley say’s he would be ready by UFC 189 if the right fight came along:

“I told the UFC late July, early August,” he said. “But if you make me a fight that makes sense, I’ll get back by UFC 189. I haven’t heard yes, I haven’t heard no. So we’ll see what happens.”

Would you like to see these two collegiate wrestlers meet inside of the Octagon?