Tyron Woodley has offered a response to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White’s latest criticisms.
Woodley vs. Colby Covington was expected by many to serve as the headliner for UFC 233. The event is set to take place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Jan. 26. Those plans were seemingly derailed when White said that Covington blew his opportunity and Woodley never wants to fight.
Tyron Woodley Responds To Dana White
Woodley recently appeared on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show. The reigning UFC welterweight champion said he never turned down a fight for UFC 233 (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I’ve stepped up for the UFC many, many, many times. But at one point, you need to start monitoring your legacy, monitoring your title run, monitoring the way you want to be remembered. I don’t want to be remembered as a guy that lost a fight to Colby Covington, or anybody else, because he knew he wasn’t 100 percent, or wasn’t given the chance to at least go through the physician that performed the surgery on his hand to get his clearance. I’ve agreed to fight Colby. I’ve agreed to fight really anybody – that’s the funny part. I just asked for a little more time before I can confirm (my hand is cleared). I’ve never said no to Jan. 26. Let’s get that on record. I actually want to fight in Anaheim. I’m undefeated in Anaheim. I’ve got a lot of strong roots in California, so it would be silly for me not to want to fight there.”
Woodley last competed back in September. He successfully defended his gold against Darren Till via second-round submission. “The Chosen One” needed surgery on his hand following the bout. Covington’s agent Dan Lambert claimed his fighter was offered a title bout for UFC 233, but he wasn’t confident that Woodley would be ready in time.
If you had to guess, what will the main event of UFC 233 be?
