Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Tyron Woodley packs some serious power, having put away the likes of Robbie Lawler, Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron with punches during his mixed martial arts career.
Woodley sees a pattern of the type of pressuring fighters he knocks out, compared to more subtle and elusive opponents like Steven Thompson, who usually take the champ the distance. As for newly-minted interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, Woodley sees “Chaos” as more of the former kind of opponent (from the UFC Unfiltered Podcast:)
“His ground is terrible. When you think about all those attributes, I’ve said this before, put your chin on the treadmill. Show me how you can condition your chin to take a punch.”
Covington himself just recently defeated former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225, winning the interim welterweight title in the process. That interim belt undoubtedly sets up a fight with Woodley, who has been sidelined with injuries after defending his title against Demian Maia at UFC 214 nearly a year ago.
The brash, trash-talking Covington relies on his stellar wrestling and top game, and excels when he can dictate the pace and location of the fight. Woodley is unconcerned, however, as the UFC welterweight champion boasts the best takedown defense percentage in the history of the entire promotion:
“It’s not like I just have the best takedown defense in the welterweight division. I have the best takedown defense in the history of the UFC. It’s kind of funny that his whole game plan is surrounded around taking me down.”
No date or location has been announced yet for a Woodley vs. Covington title unification fight, but the UFC is expected to confirm the matchup in the coming weeks.