VANCOUVER, British Columbia – With all the drama surrounding Colby Covington and his planned title shot, Tyron Woodley estimates he could skip the line to face champ Kamaru Usman.
The former UFC welterweight champion took another shot at one of his favorite targets during a Q&A before fighters hit the scale on Friday for the UFC on ESPN+ 16 ceremonial weigh-ins.
“Colby does a good job of putting his own foot in his mouth,” Woodley said. “Enough people have said that about me, but he’s a complete dumbass.”
Woodley, of course, is no stranger to conflict with UFC brass. He’s repeatedly battled with UFC president Dana White behind the scenes and in public. But he said Covington outdid himself when his demands for a new contract got him scratched from a planned fight against Usman at UFC 244.
“He’s talked himself out of three world title fights,” Woodley said. “He was supposed to fight me before he fought (Darren) Till. He (expletive) out of that fight. He was supposed to fight me before I fought Usman. He (expletive) out of that fight. You guys can do the math on what he did in the Usman fight.”
Woodley said the way things are going, he could swoop in, beat Usman and then face Covington.
Then again, Woodley said, he could make his rival wait some more.
“After I get my belt and defend, if I fight Usman and beat him, I’ve got to give him that rubber match,” he said. “I can’t just say, nah-nah-nah, you can’t get me. I’ve got to give him a chance to get back out there and prove it. Then fighting Colby obviously. And then I’m looking at 185 after that.”
Woodley contemplated a move to middleweight after losing the belt to Usman in a lackluster performance. Ultimately, he decided it would be better to leave the division having reclaimed his belt and beaten his rival.
“My goal is to get the belt back, so obviously Usman is my top priority,” he said. “So if Colby wants to get that ass whipped, he can get it whipped up, too.”
Woodley plans to work with ex-welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald as he continues his comeback story; he once pined for a fight with the former and lost to the latter in an upset. He said he’s completely humble about learning from people who’ve beaten him and will take those lessons into his return fight.
But even now, Woodley said, he’s a different fighter than the one that appeared “less than flat” against Usman.
“When I tell you I’m back, I’m back,” he said. “I needed that loss, and I needed to take a step back, so I could look at what I was doing, clean my plate off with things I didn’t need to be doing and re-organize, and I’m just excited to be back.”
To hear more from Woodley, check out the video above.
