UFC 170-pound contender Darren Till has suggested that current division title holder Tyron Woodley has turned down an offer to fight him.
While it was initially expected that interim welterweight champion Colby Covington would be next in line to fight Woodley, it’s being reported that Covington could be stripped of his title after suffering an injury and being unable to unify his title with Woodley’s in a timely manner.
Darren Till took to Twitter and engaged in an exchange with Woodley, accusing him of refusing to accept a fight with him after the UFC recently offered it. He spoke to MMA Fighting today (Thurs. July 19, 2018) to shed some more light on the matter:
“I don’t know what’s happening with Colby, whether he’s injured or not, but I’ve been offered Tyron Woodley and he turned the fight down,” said Till.
“That’s what it looks like to me and I’ve been on the UFC’s case about it. UFC want me to fight him, but he will not accept it. [UFC] didn’t mention a date or anything, but that’s the fight they wanted to make and he obviously isn’t into it.”
Till then speculated as to why Woodley is so reluctant to accept the fight, also noting that he doesn’t think “T-Wood” will be getting his desired superfights with the likes of Georges St-Pierre or Nate Diaz:
“I’m not too bothered about it, but I get a feeling that he thinks that nobody is worthy of fighting him for the title. I think he just wants to hold onto the belt for as long as he can. He’s going to have to make a decision soon. If he doesn’t want to fight me, who does he want to fight? It’s just me and Colby and Colby is injured apparently, so who is there? It’s a weird one, but I’m just waiting to see what happens,” he said.
“Maybe he wants to hold on for the Colby fight or maybe he just doesn’t want to come back — maybe he just doesn’t want to fight me. There could be many reasons but I think we’re going to find out what’s going to happen in the next few days. I’m not thinking too much into it at the moment because I want to have more information. I just want to see what it’s going to be, whether it’s me fighting Woodley or if he’s going to wait to fight Colby.
“He’s not getting the Georges St-Pierre fight, he’s not getting Nate Diaz, so who is he going to fight? I’m not going to wait around for it. I’ll just beat someone else and see what happens. I really feel he wants to just keep a hold of that title.”
What are your thoughts on Till being offered a fight with Woodley? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments!
