Colby Covington vows to retire Tyron Woodley as Dana White waits on former UFC champ to sign contract
- UFC president Dana White confirms Covington has signed a deal but Woodley has not
- ‘Why is he not ready to go in August, he gave his verbal confirmation,’ says ‘Chaos’, as Woodley demands September or October fight date
Colby Covington has vowed to retire Tyron Woodley – but UFC president Dana White revealed the former welterweight champ had yet to sign the bout agreement.
“It’s a fight we’re working on,” White told a media scrum in Abu Dhabi on Friday. “Listen, Woodley said he wanted to fight him. Woodley’s been talking about fighting Colby Covington since Colby fought [Kamaru] Usman, so it is true that Colby signed the deal and he’s ready to go. We’re just waiting on Woodley.”
The UFC is looking to book the fight as the headliner for an August 22 show, but told ESPN he won’t be ready to fight until September or October. Covington (15-2) and Woodley (19-5-1) have both accused each other of ducking over the years. The former American Top Team teammates looked set to fight after “Chaos” won the interim welterweight title in June 2018, but Woodley surrendered the belt to Usman in March 2019.
“Why is he not ready to go in August? He just told his manager, Malki Kawa at First Round Management, that he wanted to fight Colby last week. We were supposed to fight,” Covington told MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun.
“He gave his verbal confirmation to the UFC. I gave my verbal confirmation. I signed the contract. Why is he not showing up now? He’s been talking all that s*** saying I ducked him, this, that. He’s the only one that’s ever ducked me. I’ve never ducked him.”
Covington, who was stopped by Usman (17-1) via fifth-round TKO in December, shared a picture of his signed bout agreement on social media on Wednesday, and Woodley was quick to respond.
“My answer to whether I would fight Colby is eternally yes,” Woodley told ESPN. “At 96 years old in a nursing home it’s, ‘Yes!’ He said no six times and now creates a date that works for him? F*** out of here.”
“He declined fights [for two years],” added Woodley, who is coming off a unanimous decision loss to new No 1-contender Gilbert Burns (19-3) in May. “He’s lucky I’m still entertaining it.
“I literally treated it like every other bluff and told them quit contacting me until this b*** signed a bout agreement. Never thought he would sign. September [or] October, I’ll get around to exterminating that roach. Let me call the UFC and see what’s cracking.”
