Former UFC champion [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag] felt the need to make one thing perfectly clear Saturday when it comes to fighting rival [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag].
“I’ve accepted the fight every single time they’ve offered me the fight,” Woodley said in an Instagram video. “I accepted the fight the day after my fight with Gilbert Burns. They asked me about fighting Colby literally the next day. I said, ‘Yeah, let me just let this cut heal, and my legs are sore from getting kicked. But I’m in, let’s do it.’ Didn’t even ask for more money. Just said let’s do it because I’m tired of hearing his mouth.”
Since 2017, Covington (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Woodley (19-5-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) have feuded, but a fight has never materialized, with both men accusing the other of ducking. This week it’s been Covington with accusations after he posted an unsigned bout agreement for Aug. 22 on social media.
“I gave my verbal confirmation. I signed the contract,” Covington told MMA Junkie. “Why is he not showing up now? He’s been talking all that sh*t saying I ducked him, this, that. He’s the only one that’s ever ducked me. I’ve never ducked him.”
But this isn’t about Woodley ducking a fight with Covington. Woodley just wants more time.
“Yes, I will fight him. But I’m gonna do a camp,” Woodley said, adding that he’d just been cleared from an eye injury one day earlier. “I’m not gonna go out there and fight Colby Covington without a full camp.”
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Woodley, who’s on a two-fight skid that includes dropping his title fight to Kamaru Usman, is coming off a loss to Gilbert Burns, which took place May 30 and was the culmination of weeks of turmoil.
Woodley was set to fight Leon Edwards on March 21 in London until the fight was canceled as travel restrictions increased because of the global coronavirus pandemic. In the immediate aftermath of the fight being scrapped, Covington lobbied to step in, but the event subsequently was called off.
The situation left Woodley in limbo after a full training camp, and he was considered to compete on other dates and in unknown locations as the UFC tried to return from a brief hiatus. After dealing with less-than-ideal circumstances leading up to his last fight, Woodley simply wants a sense of normalcy to prepare for Covington in September or October.
“I need to reset. And I don’t care who don’t like it. We’re fighters, but I needed to reset, take myself completely out of a camp,” Woodley said. “I was stretching out a camp for dear life. The camp was over with in freaking March, but I kept stretching it out because I didn’t know what the fight situation would be.”
He continued, “We in, but we’re just gonna have to do it a couple days later. And who told you you was in the driver’s seat? You ain’t in no driver’s seat, dog. … You think because I lost two fights that I’m out of it, that I’m not gonna hurt you? You’ve got life messed up.”