Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley wants a crack at Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is on top of the MMA world right now. “The Eagle” further solidified his dominance at UFC 242 early this month when he stopped Dustin Poirier via third-round submission, marking his second successful title defense.
Along with Khabib’s current status comes a huge target on his back. Among those who wants a piece of him is former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
“He’s a beast,” Woodley said of Khabib during Friday’s fan Q&A at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I just think that right now in my life and my career, I need the impossible.
“I need the stuff that nobody can do, I need the thing that’s gonna motivate me beyond measure and I think that he provides that.”
The one major question about this matchup would be the weight class they’d be fighting at. Woodley was candid enough to admit his hesitance to drop down to 155 pounds, so he is looking at another option.
“Obviously, I could never make 155. I’m already kind of alluding to handling business at welterweight and going up to middleweight,” he said. “It would have to be something at a catchweight, it would have to be something that he would be interested in. He’s on top of the world right now, I might not even be an option for him.
“It’s more out of respect of what he can do. I know Dustin, he spars middleweights, light heavyweights, and for him to go out there and put on a performance like that against Dustin, I gotta see what it feels like.”
Woodley hasn’t fought since he dropped the title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 in March. He was supposed to fight fellow ex-champion Robbie Lawler in a rematch at UFC Minnesota in late June, but was forced out of the matchup due to a hand injury.