Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“We’re getting real close on a date. September/October. It’s going down for sure.”
It looks as though Tyron Woodley is inching closer to signing a contract for his proposed welterweight bout with Colby Covington, as the former UFC welterweight champion expects to fight ‘Chaos’ in ‘September/October’, according to a recent interview with ex-UFC veteran Mike Swick.
Covington accused Woodley of ducking him earlier this month, but ‘T-Wood’ is definetely optimistic about the matchup and will be treating it as the biggest fight of his career.
“Looks like I’m going to be fighting Colby Covington,” Woodley said on a recent edition of the Real Quick podcast (h/t MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin). “The date, we’re waiting on right now. I’m pretty confident it’s going to be a main event. Main event ESPN+ me versus Colby.
“We’re getting real close on a date. September/October. It’s going down for sure.”
“This is a big fight for me, This is probably the biggest fight of my career to be honest. Because the situation, it’s bragging rights. He’s talked all this sh*t, but in my mind, he really knows what time it is but now because he has talked that much sh*t, he’s got to try to live up to it. He’s got to try to beat me. He’s been calling me out for three or four years damn near. So now it’s to the point where it’s personal and the other fights didn’t really mean as much.
“I feel like [Kamaru] Usman and Gilbert are kind of goofy and I really didn’t feel no animosity towards them. But I feel that with Colby. Some of the other guys I felt the urgency because of how good they were, Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler, those guys are the OG’s. “The Natural Born Killer,” “Ruthless,” “Gorilla” [Darren Till], all these monstrous fighters that I got to bring it to them cause they sure as f**k going to bring it to me. I think Colby’s going to bring me that, the first time I get the opponent at the press conference, we probably just going to break the internet to be honest.”
Woodley is excited about the pre-fight buildup and promises to make Covington ‘look stupid’ in the media.
“He’s gonna try to use everything in mental warfare,” Woodley said. “He’s going to try to be racist, he’s going to try to talk about stuff from my personal life, he’s gonna bluff and make up sh*t about the gym. He’s going to ask all these daggone questions cause he was in St. Louis with me so anything he can turn into something he’s going to do that.
“Guess what? I’m going to match him and make him look stupid.”
Woodley slipped to #5 in the UFC welterweight rankings following his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC on ESPN 9 but the 38-year-old is still considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the division. Covington, 32, is currently #2 in the welterweight rankings.