UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley is going to be defending the gold against Darren Till next month in the main event of UFC 228.
Interim welterweight champion Colby Covington was unable to have a title unification bout with Woodley at UFC 228 and Woodley says the interim champion never wanted to have the actual fight in the first place.
?He?s basically shown us he?s a (expletive), and he never really wanted to fight in the first place,? Woodley told reporters backstage at UFC 227. ?That was for you guys. I?m willing to beat anybody. You guys, the fans, and Brazil, and all the people he disrespected, and people that knew his antics were complete frickin? horrible scripted elementary antics, you guys wanted to see him get his ass whooped. And I was just going to do it because he was next up.?
Covington is expected to be stripped of the interim gold, much the same way the Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson were stripped of their belts at UFC 223.
Woodley is now ready to move on and his focus is now on UFC 228 opponent Darren Till.
?It was quiet,? Woodley said. ?Jon (Jones) was gone. Conor (McGregor) was gone. Ronda (Rousey) said peace out. What did we really have? So why am I going to shutter his dreams and remove the cape on his whole show. Hey, if it builds up a fight with me, I?ll make some money. You?re the easiest matchup in the division. Why not let it go forward? Now, it?s a different opponent (in Till), one that style-wise presents way more threats to me. Bigger, stronger, more powerful, hungrier, and actually means what he says. He doesn?t say much, but what he says he really means it.?
UFC 228 takes place on Saturday, September 8 from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas with Tyron Woodley and Darren Till headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.