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Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is scheduled to face longtime rival (and ex-teammate) Colby Covington in a 170-pound grudge match atop the UFC Vegas 11 fight card on Sept. 19 from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
To help prepare for five rounds of “Chaos,” Woodley enlisted the help of longtime welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal, who not only shares a disdain for Covington, but also knows a thing or two about MMA comebacks.
“We had several conversations even before this happened: ‘Tyron, get your head straight.’ My head was fucked up and now I cleared it up, look what happened,” Woodley told ESPN. “Till, Ben, da da da, I went on a run. You’ve got to do the same thing,’ So he kinda gave me the motivation and accountability because I didn’t want to let him down.”
Woodley coughed up his 170-pound title to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, then turned in a tepid performance against top contender Gilbert Burns. At age 38, fans were starting to wonder if “The Chosen One” was no longer a world-class combatant.
“He hit me up personally about a year and a half ago and told me there were some toxic things in my life that I needed to erase, and I’ve erased those things and now I can breathe, now I can float,” Woodley continued. “Now I’m back, and it feels good, and I’ve really got to thank him for that.”
And there’s no better way to say “thanks” than by smashing Covington.