Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
It looks like a long-awaited welterweight bout has finally come to fruition.
After many false starts, it looks like the long-running feud between former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and former interim champ Colby Covington will finally get settled. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani indicated the fight is close to being made, but Woodley himself seemed to imply that it was a go:
Tyron Woodley x Colby Covington is closer to becoming a reality than ever before. They have both verbally agreed to fight in September. Currently, it’s the main event on Sept. 19. But that’s the UFC 253 date, no? Well that might move to Abu Dhabi on 9/26. Fluid right now.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 10, 2020
As Helwani pointed out, the 19th is the current date for UFC 253, and the current headliner for that event is Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa for the middleweight title. It could definitely be the co-main or something, but it seems to be tapped as a headliner, so who knows.
Woodley (19-5-1, 9-5 UFC) has lost two decisions in a row, to Kamaru Usman (which cost him his title) and most recently Gilbert Burns. Covington (15-2, 10-2 UFC) was stopped by Usman late in his last outing in December, which broke a seven-fight winning streak.
Both sides have apparently agreed to take this bout at different times, but the UFC could never get both to sign off on the fight at the same time. Now, it seems like we’ll finally get to see it. The winner will be closer to a title shot, but as long as Usman remains the champ it doesn’t look good for either guy.