Colby Covington has a theory as to why Tyron Woodley accepted a bout with Gilbert Burns.
Woodley vs. Burns is set to take place on May 30. The UFC is hoping to hold this event inside its APEX facility in Las Vegas. The May 30 card is scheduled to air live on ESPN. It’ll be Woodley’s first bout on the major ESPN network.
Covington Says Woodley Avoided Fighting Him
Covington spoke to MMAFighting’s Mike Heck. During the interview, Covington shared his belief that Woodley took the Burns fight to avoid a matchup with him (via BJPenn.com).
“It just sucks. He just didn’t want to fight me. I’m the first guy to ever scare the champion into elective surgery. Elective surgery, Mike! The guy was ready to fight Nate Diaz, some lightweight scrub wash-up, the Stockton soy-boy, he was ready to fight him, but he won’t fight Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington when I have the real welterweight championship. The people’s championship. America’s championship. More importantly, [I’m] Donald Trump’s favorite fighter.”
When Woodley shares the Octagon with Burns, it’ll be his first bout since March 2019. That was when he lost the UFC welterweight title to Kamaru Usman. Woodley was scheduled to fight Robbie Lawler in a rematch later that year but he had to undergo hand surgery.
As for Covington, his last bout was also against Usman. Back in Dec. 2019, Covington challenged “The Nigerian Nightmare” for the 170-pound gold. Covington ended up losing the bout via fifth-round TKO.
Covington and Woodley were once training partners at American Top Team. Woodley began splitting his time with Roufusport. This led to Covington unleashing rants on “The Chosen One.” The two have expressed interest in settling their grudge but a bout has yet to materialize.
